Thursday is scheduled to be one of the longest and most symbolically resonant days of President Biden’s time in the White House.
He is set to go for more than 12 hours, talking about the war, his infrastructure achievement, and ways to combat inflation – as well as raise money for the Democratic Party, at a time when there is no indication that Team Biden (let alone Team Biden-Harris-Klain-Pelosi-Schumer…) has figured out a way to hold back the gathering Red storm for the midterms.
Here is the POTUS day in full:
Is this the day that Joe Biden turns it all around?
Or turns it partially around?
Color CNN.com skeptical:
Joe Biden would probably like to forget the last few days.
They've been filled with confusing messages on critical topics, projecting an image of a directionless White House led by a President whose tendency to veer off message is only adding to his problems….
Perhaps in an attempt to address this sense of a lack of direction, Biden put out a series of tweets Wednesday morning blaming inflation on Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine and urging Congress to take action. "I've called on Congress to move immediately to lower the cost of families' utility bills, prescription drugs, and more — while lowering the deficit to reduce inflationary pressure," Biden tweeted.
It's not clear that there is much desire among Democrats -- many of whom are eager to get home and campaign before the midterm elections -- to follow through on Biden's push.
It's all a mess for Democrats. And a mess without any clear -- or easy -- solutions.
Politico lays bare one of the thorniest Biden challenges:
Democrats’ path to saving their narrow Senate majority comes down to defending four states this fall. And in all of them, President Joe Biden is underwater in the polls.
Biden’s drag on swing-state incumbents is emerging as a pivotal factor in the midterm Senate elections, where the loss of just one Democratic-held seat in November could put Republicans in control.
The White House attempt to turn the midterms into a referendum on Florida Senator Rick Scott’s wacky ideas on taxes might still work – but said effort just earned this from the Washington Post:
This while Karl Rove pleads with the Democrats to run on Senator Elizabeth Warren’s plans, and (as I tried to tell you) Bernie Sanders makes clear that he might run for the White House in 2024.
And on Ukraine/Putin, these twin punches for the administration: A new Associated Press poll suggesting more than half of the American people don’t think President Biden has been tough enough on Russia and David Sanger’s essential read says the USG worries that Putin is now so isolated that he could do just about anything, including use nukes.
I don’t generally like to make predictions, but if Joe Biden’s long(est) day is the day that turns everything around (partly from the West Coast…), I will be surprised.
There remains in the minds of some Democrats the possibility of a magic elixir that will revive the party’s fortunes and allow them to keep their majorities (or, at least, fend off the prospects of a full-on shellacking), something that has the potential to get the Dominant Media back to its natural state of visceral opposition to all things Red:
To be continued….
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