Natasha Korecki in her piece for POLITICO on Friday highlighted the concerns of Unite the Country, described by Korecki as this "pro-Biden super PAC." Not only is it pro-Biden, it's solely dedicated to being pro-Biden. The group's concern is that people don't know enough about President Joe Biden's successes, and it could cost them in 2022.
According to a memo from late June based off of focus group conducted in battleground states, which POLITICO obtained, Biden's "proposals remain worryingly undefined in the public consciousness and voters are primed with misinformation that helps Republican justify their opposition." It also mentioned that "Democrats must communicate much more aggressively to define success for the [American Rescue Plan] and to explain why it is important to pass the American Jobs Act and the American Families Plan."
The memo would go on to bash "Fox-News driven spin" for "a real lack of information about the specifics of the Biden Agenda."
As Korecki also wrote when it comes to the memo's concerns for lack of knowledge about these successes:
They not only sow doubt in President Joe Biden’s ability to avoid the typical losses the party in the White House faces during a president’s first midterm election, but serve as a reminder of the difficulties that come in translating policy initiatives into political successes. Having pledged to avoid the missteps of the Obama years — in which officials acknowledged that they failed to sell their stimulus bill to the public — the Unite the Country memo suggests that Biden may be succumbing to the same fate. Though the president and Cabinet members have visited specific states touting their plans, and ad campaigns have been launched to supplement those efforts, the message isn’t reaching middle America.
Historically the party in charge of the White House loses seats in the House and the Senate, as Korecki mentioned. It doesn't look like Biden will "avoid" that history either. This is especially relevant considering that the Democratic majority in the House is in the single digits. Far more Republicans were elected in 2020 than predicted. And, Democrats only have a majority in the 50-50 Senate because Vice President Kamala Harris is the tie-breaking vote.
But there's more to it, beyond the fate of historical precedence and the numbers that the Democrats have or don't have.
Biden may have had his honeymoon period of high popularity ratings, but those ratings have been dropping. They're particularly sinking when it comes to crime especially, but also issues like guns and immigrations. The president is losing favor among fellow Democrats on these issues too, according to multiple polls.
The American Rescue Plan received no Republican support; even two Democrats voted against it in the House.
On this bipartisan infrastructure plan, the president quickly tainted this hope for bipartisan success by tying it to the partisan, astronomically costly $6 trillion budget proposal. While he walked it back, it was likely too little too late. Biden did himself no favors.
Further, the Democrats are behaving as if they have a mandate, when they don't. And, the Biden administration is one consumed with this farce of "equity," resulting in culture war concerns when it comes to an agenda preoccupied with forcing taxpayers to fund abortions, promoting Critical Race Theory, pushing the concept of transgender children, and taking out words like mother and woman and replacing with "birthing person."
Democrats are almost certain to lose seats come 2022. And it shouldn't come as a shock, at all.
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