Analysis: Mounting problems test Biden’s presidency and Democrats’ hold on power

by | Oct 17, 2021 | White House

The President is confronted by a slew of intractable domestic and global crises he has no power to quickly fix, a bunch of political crunches caused and exacerbated by his own choices and a deepening sense of a White House under siege.
Rising
Biden and Democrats in Washington — after the success of an early $1.9 trillion Covid relief bill — haven’t so far effectively wielded power. House progressives made a power play, but haven’t yet shown they understand government is about compromise. Moderate Senate Democrats Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema adopted a my-way-or-the-highway approach that left Biden’s agenda on a knife-edge. The President may need to be far more proactive. His laid-back — critics might say absent leadership style — that helped him in 2020 doesn’t fill the bully pulpit. And questions about his rigor will always be sensitive since, at 78, he’s the oldest US President.
If the bills fail, Democrats may also rue their tactics. Since Biden was seen by many 2020 voters as a moderate, was he wise to author a multi-trillion dollar spending spree easy for the GOP to portray as radical? And was such a gamble asking too much of tiny congressional majorities that always meant comparisons to Lyndon Johnson and Franklin Roosevelt were overwrought?
Biden’s big bet was rooted in a need to show working-class Americans — including those seduced by Trump’s populist nationalism — that the government they believe ignored them can still help. Democrats, who are favorites to lose the House next year and have an unappealing slate of Senate seats to defend, were always going to go for broke if they had the chance, fearing their lease on Washington power may be short. But unless Biden can unite his party soon, he may have alienated more moderate voters who picked him in 2020 for nothing. And the idea that voters will reward Democrats even if the bills do pass remains an untested theory.

Trump creates a picture of chaos

The administration’s handling of immigration — one of the most toxic political issues — has also been haphazard.
An influx of undocumented migrants pouring toward the US southern border offers an opening for Republicans almost every day. GOP claims that millions make it across are outlandish. But the White House often seems to ignore a serious situation. And Vice President Kamala Harris has apparently had little impact on conditions in Central America that spur migration — in a mission assigned by Biden. The deportation, meanwhile, of hundreds of Haitian refugees back to a violence-plagued homeland many left years ago ripped divisions inside the administration and caused angry splits inside the Democratic Party. As did the failure of a bipartisan police reform push in memory of George Floyd.
All of this plays into Trump’s hands. The ex-President may be a grave threat to American democracy, but he remains unequalled at spinning dire events into a base-pleasing political message.
“Violent criminals and bloodthirsty gangs are taking over our streets, illegal aliens and deadly drug cartels are taking over our borders, inflation is taking over our economy, China’s taking over our jobs, the Taliban has taken over Afghanistan, lunatic leftists are taking over our schools and radical socialists are taking over our country,” Trump said at a rally in Iowa Saturday night that underscored his continuing grip on the Republican Party.
Trump has no governing power, so it’s easy to carp. Biden, however, faces a situation all presidents encounter. Whereas in the campaign he was the foil to Trump’s failed presidency, contempt for democratic values and volcanic temperament that rocked the world, Biden is now being judged on his own terms. Therefore, outside events he can’t control can be especially damaging, and leave little room for missteps on situations that should be within his control.
Still, there is more than a year before the midterms, even if prevailing public sentiment does tend to get baked in months ahead of time. Presidents of both parties often get frustrated at media narratives of decline and of their White Houses being under siege, viewing Beltway journalists as score keepers who miss deeper trends and the reality of life in the country. But news coverage does help shape impressions of a presidency — one reason politicians spend so much time trying to shape it — especially for voters who don’t spend all their time following events.
But if the President can crack heads in his party and get infrastructure and a smaller but still meaningful social spending program passed, he will construct a legacy that eluded several predecessors. Most crucially, his political standing depends on the pandemic finally easing. If vaccines for kids and new treatments kick in, ease infections and perhaps even mitigate Covid-fueled political fury, his fortunes could rebound. A true pandemic end game would boost the economy and hiring just in time for the midterms — and an ebbing of the disease worldwide could untangle broader economic kinks. If that happens, the environment may not seem quite so primed for a GOP midterm sweep and a Trump comeback.
“Our focus is on getting the pandemic under control, returning to life — a version of normal — so people can have security in going into work and dropping their kids off and knowing people will be safe,” Psaki said.
“And that’s where we think we should spend our time and energy.”