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The Blue versus Red battle for the midterms does not break down exactly into “Biden versus Trump,” but in both media perception and reality, that framing is far closer to right than wrong.
As this first full week of the (cue the cliché) unofficial start of the fall campaign gets underway, one has to say that the signs are everywhere that Team Blue/Biden is on the offense and united, while Team Red/Trump is still dealing with chaos, division, and indecision, as seen through the filter of the Dominant Media and the blind-quote anxieties of more than a few Republican operatives.
Ron Klain & Co. have the experience to use the machinery and majesty of the White House, Air Force One, and the other perks of incumbency to gain every advantage possible. As a snapshot of today, Team Blue has a schedule and a plan that would make both Jim Baker and Rahm Emanuel proud.
Take, for instance, Biden’s schedule for this week:
Note this is far from the “he’s still hiding in the basement” pace that the Republicans have had a rhetorical field day for some time. There’s no vacation in Delaware here, no “no public events on the president’s schedule.”
And this “Biden on the road” stuff is working as well or better than it ever has, by at least the metric of local press coverage.
Typically White House’s put out “ICYM” summary positive reactions to presidential events that include favorable media coverage. One of the odd (and telling) hallmarks of the Biden administration is that their ICYMI/WTAS roundups have largely consisted of gushing quotes from Democratic elected officials, not validation from the press.
But check out these Ohio frontpages the White House put out after last week’s Biden trip:
Plus, the Washington Post’s new take on Mr. Biden campaigning for Senate candidates is sort of positive-to-neutral, as opposed to the highly negative slant such a story would have had in the mid-summer.
And the hits are going to keep on coming, 100s of turtles on 100s of fenceposts that Ron Klain will place up there.
From the start of the Biden term, figuring out how to keep China from being a political liability has been a big administration project. Well, look at these two turtles up high:
President Biden will issue an executive order Monday intended to boost the domestic biotechnology industry, which encompasses everything from pharmaceutical manufacturing to plastics to innovative fuels, according to White House officials.
Speaking on a background call Sunday, administration officials said the executive order is partly a reaction to competition from China, which they said has a robust development program in biotechnology. The United States needs to safeguard against losing dominance in biotech manufacturing as it did in manufacturing of semiconductor chips, said one of the officials. (Washington Post)
*
The Biden administration plans next month to broaden curbs on U.S shipments to China of semiconductors used for artificial intelligence and chipmaking tools, several people familiar with the matter said. (Reuters)
In addition:
* The Biden-backed Ukraine offensive seems to be going well.
* Vice President Harris’ appearance on “Meet the Press” was strong (following her potent DNC speech), apparenlty strong enough to avoid any apparent mocking or critique by the RNC Twitter account that normally features such things.
* After the passage of all those big bills, the Dominant Media now assumes that Team Biden-Harris-Klain-Pelosi-Schumer can navigate rough waters and get it done, so the pending energy permitting, continuing resolution, same-sex marriage, and other legislative fights are thought to be resolvable, and the remaining, pre-November 1/6 hearings will be teed up to hurt Republican chances as much as possible in the midterms.
Democrats know stuff can still go wrong, and aren’t taking anything for granted, but they – and Joe Biden – head into a week they feel good about.
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As for Team Red and their leader Donald J. Trump, the week – and weeks ahead – are more questionable.
First of all, with tight limits on attendance at the Queen’s funeral, could Mr. Trump be shut out? Apparently so, which would carry with it symbolism too massive to try to capture here.
Second, former diplomat Dave Seminara, who says he is both an “anti-Trump and anti-Never-Trump Republican,” speaks for every GOPer in the Gang of 500 and a majority of Republican elected officials when he essentially writes in the pages of the Wall Street Journal:
I left the country for nearly a month this summer and came back to find that Democrats were rising in generic polls and President Biden’s approval rating had ticked up. That shouldn’t be possible given the state of dysfunction in which we now live. If the Republicans can’t make big gains in the midterms and recapture the White House in 2024 with the hapless Mr. Biden at the helm, the GOP needs a revolution, starting at the top….
Independents and moderate Democrats should be flocking to the GOP, given Mr. Biden’s commitment to radical and haphazard progressive policy. But many voters don’t want anything to do with a party that’s clueless enough to keep Mr. Trump as the headliner of its show.
The former president’s most ardent fans fail to grasp the depths of his unpopularity. Some seem to live in a fantasy land, still believing he won 2020 in a landslide. Many Republicans who should know better continue to indulge these delusions to the detriment of their party and the country.
However….
* Mr. Trump’s new lawyer, Chris Kise, is portrayed in an essential reading Wall Street Journal profile as someone who can actually keep his client out of prison (and, maybe, even unindicted).
* With money going back into Arizona to help the R’s Senate candidate, the New York Times’ polling guru looks at why the data suggesting Democratic Senate candidates are doing very well could all be a mirage.
In conclusion, the Klain-powered Biden/Team Blue run might still culminate in Republicans taking control of both the House and Senate.
The stakes are high, the water’s rough, this midterm is ours to watch together.
See you tomorrow.
Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel.
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