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The swirl of contradictions, inactions, and (thus) political peril that make up the fraught presidency of Joe Biden is at once exactly the same as and totally different than those of his immediate predecessors.
Running things from the Oval Office is hard; it is a true truism that the only items that reach an American president’s inbox represent the thorniest problems.
So, these brutal numbers from NBC News:
I write the following with my Blue readers in mind. This is not intended to be anti-Biden or something you might read in National Review. I believe these all to be objective facts.
Oh, and Donald Trump was worse, in terms of contradictions, inaction, and so much more. That truth does not, in my view, preclude citizens from analyzing the Biden presidency and sometimes seeing that matters appear off kilter.
With that throat clearing having been done…
One of the greatest pollsters in the history of the profession, Republican Bill McInturff of Public Opinions Strategy, said this about that NBC News survey which he helped conduct:
“What this poll says is that President Biden and Democrats are headed for a catastrophic election.”
Why are Joe Biden’s poll numbers so bad?
He inherited a lot of problems, to be sure.
Pandemic, international conflict, inflation, yes.
But he was not drafted to run; he put himself forward as the person who could do this challenging job.
I would summarize the reason for his disastrous poll standing as the “and/but” problem.
On every important matter, it is hard for the normal American to discern Mr. Biden’s strength, his theory of the case, his envisioned path to success. Part of that derives from his inability to articulate very much very clearly. And/but part of this also derives from a lack of distinct, strong policies. There are exceptions to this pattern, but they of course only prove the rule.
* Putin is a butcher and a war criminal and/but the U.S. opposes regime change.
* The Ukrainian military must be aided tremendously and/but not in a way that might ruffle Putin’s tender mercies.
* Crime is a serious problem and/but progressive mayors and policies should not be called out explicitly.
* The U.S.-Mexican border is in crisis and/but there is no apparent plan to bring it under control.
* Inflation is and isn’t a problem and/but it is Putin’s fault and/but it is the Fed’s responsibility to fix.
* COVID progress has been great and/but Congress needs to appropriate more money to deal with it and/but there is no obvious plan to get that additional funding and/but mandates need to be kept in place and/but Trump didn’t know what he was doing.
* We need to put kids and parents first and/but the teachers unions can have a full pass on blocking whatever they wish.
* Build Back Better was vital to deal with inflation, the needs of working families, and to save the planet and/but there is no clear plan to pass even a slimmed down version of another themeless pudding.
* There is agreement within Team Biden-Donilon-Pelosi-Schumer that the left is exerting too much influence over many decisions and/but no willingness to publicly call anyone out.
* China is America’s biggest long-term foreign policy threat and/but we can keep putting off having a plan to undermine Xi’s leverage.
* Bipartisanship is the key to fixing America and/but there are no prominent Republicans in the administration.
* Social media platforms are destroying a lot of stuff and/but there is no vision about how to limit their power.
I could go on.
But I think the points are clear.
1. Joe Biden’s poll numbers are low.
2. Joe Biden’s low poll numbers are endangering Democrats in the midterms.
3. Joe Biden’s poll numbers are low in part because of this “and/but” problem.
4. Joe Biden’s poll numbers are unlikely to improve unless he solves his “and/but” problem.
5. There is no sign that Joe Bide is going to solve his “and/but” problem, even as he and his team have skillfully rallied an unprecedented Coalition of the Willing against the evil of Putin.
6. The fact that he has confronted Putin for a month and the NBC numbers are what they are speaks louder than anything a Biden spokeswoman could say from a podium.
****
The Washington Post with a timely summary:
ISTANBUL, Turkey – Ukrainian and Russian delegations are arriving in Istanbul for another round of in-person talks — putting NATO member Turkey, which has ties to both Kyiv and Moscow, in the spotlight as an intermediary in the deadly conflict grinding into its second month. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed his desire for a cease-fire in a phone call Sunday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, state media reported.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared to offer a diplomatic opening Sunday, saying that Kyiv could declare its “neutrality” and effectively renounce its ambitions to join NATO in a potential peace deal with Moscow, but stressed that Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity are “beyond doubt" and any deal must be voted on by a national referendum held without Russian troops in Ukraine. Zelensky made these remarks during an interview with a Russian outlet, which the Kremlin’s Internet censor then banned Russian media outlets from publishing.
The renewed diplomatic effort comes as Russian military operations northwest of Kyiv appear to have paused and the Kremlin recalibrates its strategy after failing to capture the capital. But fighting and shelling continues to terrorize the country, and Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Andriivna Vereshchuk said Monday that humanitarian corridors would not be open due to reports of “provocations."
LVIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine could declare neutrality and offer security guarantees to Russia to secure peace “without delay,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of another expected round of talks between the two sides — though he said only a face-to-face meeting with Russia’s leader could end the war.
In an interview with independent Russian media outlets, Zelenskyy stressed that Ukraine’s priority is ensuring its sovereignty and preventing Moscow from carving it up.
But, he added: “Security guarantees and neutrality, non-nuclear status of our state — we are ready to go for it.”
Zelenskyy has suggested as much before, but rarely so forcefully.
****
ESSENTIALS
* The Shot Heard Around the World:
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* David Ignatius on the greatness and influence of Madeleine Albright (belated).
* Megan McArdle on the absolute need for the Dominant Media to come to grips with what it and Big Tech did on the Hunter Biden laptop story.
* ESPN:
Duke heads into the Final Four as the consensus favorite to win the national title at sportsbooks, but the Blue Devils will have to get past archrival North Carolina to get to the championship game.