The jury is out on one thing regarding the 2022 midterms: the Democrats cannot count on any more good news to buoy their political hopes come November. Charlie Cook hurled cold water on the recent surge in enthusiasm from Democrats that maybe they could survive the storm amid high inflation, an economy in recession, and a president with atrocious approvals. The Cook Political Report did note that abortion has energized the party base and that the August spending bill provided something of a win. But legislative accomplishments, which this administration doesn’t have many, are in the “rear view,” and the hordes of voters energized by the Dobbs decision already live in deep-blue bastions. The net gains could be indiscernible if the economy continues to struggle. If the consumer price index report that torched $1.5 trillion last week is any indication, the economy will continue to remain in a torpid state, and inflation has not gone away.
With no legislative accomplishments to lean on—all you can do is blame the other party and declare them enemies of the state, which Biden has already done. Senior White House Adviser Keisha Lance Bottoms trotted out that narrative again Sunday on MSNBC to warn us about MAGA Republicans’ plan to destroy the country. Those who aren’t mentally degraded by liberalism read this as ‘if you don’t support us, you’re plotting the end of America.’ The infantilism that’s become ingrained and a hallmark characteristic of the white woke college kids who dominated the Democratic Party base is nothing short of staggering:
"When you have a MAGA Republican agenda that has no respect for the Constitution, that has no respect for free & fair elections, then it is important for all of us, not just the president ... to call it out ... It is a danger to our democracy, it is a danger to our way of life."
— Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) September 25, 2022
Harry Truman never called the GOP enemies of the state under a Nazi-like aura like Biden on September 3, but he did run on the “do nothing” Congress that resulted in one of the biggest political upsets in 1948. Times have changed; this isn’t 1948, and Harry Truman was vivacious. Joe Biden has spent 40 percent of his presidency on vacation, and these excursions might have had some role in the sluggish pace this administration exhibits when dealing with pressing domestic and foreign policy matters. There’s no excuse for it either—Biden has barely been in office for 1000 days.
We almost suffered a catastrophic railway strike that would have virtually halted all commuter traffic, with 30 percent of all US freight impacted. We’re still not out of the woods on this as the rank-and-file need to ratify the agreement. We could be staring down the barrel of another nationwide strike in a few weeks. The Biden White House, supposedly labor unions’ best friends, couldn’t hash out an agreement until we were within hours of disaster. They had been working on this since the spring, and it wasn’t even about pay increases but missed work penalties and sick leave. You must wonder if Biden’s ephemeral presence at 1600 played a role.