Democrats are scrambling for the lifeboats. Despite months of election bravado, the Democrats are abandoning the sinking Titanic that is the Biden presidency. The Biden media, sensing a midterm drubbing for Democrats, is cracking after more than a year of covering up for the gaffe-prone president.
USA Today, a reliable pro-Biden newspaper, called out Biden for a string of blunders, including a false claim that Congress approved the student loan forgiveness plan. At a recent event, the president called for the late Rep. Jackie Walorski to stand up. She had died the previous month in a car accident.
"It also raises questions about Biden's mental acuity. I don't fault him for growing older--he's turning 80 next month. But if Biden can't remember such a sweeping legislative action, it makes me wonder if he isn't making these decisions, then who is?'"wrote USA Today columnist Ingrid Jacques.
The abrupt shift in media coverage signals growing frustration with the president, whose job performance is undermining Democrats chances in the midterm elections. Yet delusion Speaker Nancy Pelosi insists her party will hold the House and grow its lead in the Senate.
The Supreme Court decision on abortion was supposed to juice the Democrat base and attract independents. Democrats quietly celebrated the ruling, convinced they had a seminal issue that would turn the tide. However, polls reveal abortion is not a top of the mind issue with most Americans.
This election is about the economy, inflation and the rising cost of living under the Biden Administration. Pundits claim it's unfair to punish Democrats for the post-pandemic economic carnage. Unfair? Tell that to a family of four living paycheck to paycheck.
An angry electorate blames Biden. If you doubt this, consider the blowback even among Democrats as the president continues to flog his progress on the economy. Some are openly warning that even talking about the economy risks sending voters fleeing into the waiting arms of Republican candidates.
Voters don't want to hear what the president and his party have achieved when each trip to the grocery store produces sticker shock. Spiraling inflation, which was supposed to be temporary, is a nightmare for the average consumer. Abortions don't pay the bills for cash-strapped households.
A poll by the non-partisan Pew Research Center reported 95% of Americans are either "very" or "somewhat" concerned about the cost of food and consumer goods. Another 87% are anxious about the spike in housing costs. And 70% are worried about "how the stock market is doing," the poll found.
No wonder the stock market is a key concern. Americans' 401-K savings are now 201-K plans as the market has lost $7.6 trillion in value since Biden took office. Instead of empathy, Biden brushes off the market debacle because it "doesn't reflect the state of the economy". He just doesn't get it.
Another poll conducted for NBC news offers a dose of reality. Nearly three in four voters (71%) say the U.S. is headed in the wrong direction. Only 20% think the country is on the right track. One-half (50%) believe the economy will get worse, the highest number since the polling began in 1994.
The American mood is decidedly gloomy. That is a realistic predictor of the midterm election outcome. Polls about specific races for the House or Senate are just snapshots of a single moment in the election. These surveys are increasingly partisan and have wide margins for error.
Even if the president and Pelosi seem oblivious to the sour mood of the country, Democrat pollsters and strategists are clearly aghast at the findings.
Fernand Amandi, a Democrat pollster who worked on Barrack Obama's presidential campaigns, offered this opinion: "A month ago, it looked like not only were the Democrats poised to hold the Senate, the question was: Were they going to be able to get, you know, two extra seats. Now, I think the hope is to just hang on."
Even that prospect looks in doubt. Democrat strategist Mike Lux told "The Hill" that the party should have never downplayed inflation. "Working-class folks are getting hit hard by inflation," he said. "And we need to make it clear that we understand what's going on."
What is President Biden's message to the electorate on inflation in the closing days of the midterm elections?
Blame meat companies. Blame grocery wholesalers. Blame corporate greed. The president is clueless about what American consumers want to hear. They do not give a wit about who's to blame. Voters want prices to fall. Inflation is eating into their savings and driving up household credit card debt.
All 435 House seats and 35 in the Senate are up for grabs. The "smart" political class rates both houses a toss-up. This writer disdains wishy-washy predictions. Republicans will have a 31 seat margin in the House and will win enough Senate races to regain the majority with 53 seats.
This election is a referendum on Joe Biden and that spells disaster for Democrats.
