Mid-Terms Blues: A Referendum On President Biden

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. 

Democrats: It's the Economy Stupid!

Not even one of the 236 Democrats in the House and Senate voted to cut taxes in last year's legislative showdown. Hardheaded Democrats believe their stonewalling will be rewarded at the polls in the mid-term elections.  Apparently, they have forgotten the mantra of Bill Clinton.

During his first presidential run, Mr. Clinton was reminded daily by his handlers that voters really cared most about the economy.  It didn't mean Americans weren't concerned about other issues.  But they voted with their wallets.  Thus the theme "It's About the Economy Stupid!" was born.

Judging from their trashing of the Tax Cut and Jobs Act of 2017, Democrats apparently are living in some alternative universe where voters are more worried about deficits, Obamacare, gun laws, opioids or unisex bathrooms.  They have seriously miscalculated.  And Democrats will pay for it.

Recent polling by the Gallup organization lists economic problems as the single most important issue by a wide margin. Yet Democrats are betting voters will believe their fatigued narrative that only the rich will benefit. They think Americans are too dumb to notice the increase in their paychecks. 

Democrats are employing their dogeared political playbook, advocating for the issues of healthcare, the environment, gun control, race relations and LGBT rights.  They are out of touch with most Americans.  The Gallup Poll of Americans nationwide illustrates their folly.

Only eight percent of Americans think race relations is the most important issue.  Five percent mention healthcare, three percent the environment, one percent gun control and one percent gay rights.  By comparison, 17 percent of people surveyed tick the economy as the top issue.

The party's position on tax cuts has undergone a radical metamorphosis over the last 50+ years.  Once Democrats were at the forefront of the tax reform effort.  For instance, President John Kennedy championed one of the largest tax cuts in history which became law in 1964.

Under GOP President Richard Nixon, Democrats Ted Kennedy and Walter Mondale led the effort to slice taxes in 1974.  More than 20 years later in 1997, a reluctant President Clinton signed a tax cut bill that was shepherded through Congress by Republicans.

Despite Mr. Clinton's disappointment, 201 Democrats in the House and Senate joined Republicans in approving the measure, known officially as the Balanced Budget Act of 1997.  Earlier in his eight-year term, Mr. Clinton had spearheaded a legislative effort to hike taxes.

Even in 2003 when President Bush campaigned for a tax cut package, nine Democrats signed on to the legislation. Democrats' support for tax breaks has now dwindled to zero.  Virtually every Democrat who has campaigned for office in the last eight years has supported raising taxes.

Democrats are under the illusion that Americans will overlook last year's vote on tax cuts when the mid-term elections roll around in November.  It is a risky proposition for a party that will be defending 23 seats in the Senate, plus two held by independents who caucus with Democrats.

In comparison, Republicans will have eight Senate seats on the ballot. All 435 seats in the House will be up for grabs.  If past elections are any guide to the future, Americans are normally reluctant to change parties when the economy is good.  And right now America is experiencing a boon.

About 1.7 million jobs have been added since Mr. Trump became president.  Unemployment has fallen to its lowest rate in 17 years.  The unemployment rate for African-Americans, which zoomed as high as 16.8 percent under Mr. Obama, has dipped to 6.8 percent, the lowest since 1972.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has topped three percent in the last two quarters.  During Mr. Obama's tenure, the GDP never reached three percent, widely regarded as the number indicating healthy economic growth.

The stock market is rocketing into new territory, setting record closes 17 times last year.  (Remember when Democrats credited Mr. Obama for stock market gains during his tenure?)  Since January of last year more than $5 trillion in wealth has been added to the U.S. economy. 

Peevish Democrats ignore the economic news at their own peril.  Their answer is to point to polls that show Mr. Trump's popularity ratings are in the dumpster.  Popularity contests are for chumps.  The most accurate polls are overwhelmingly in Mr. Trump's favor.

Consumer confidence soared to a 17-year high in November.  Similar indices for small and big businesses confidence are rising.  Consumer and business confidence are a more accurate measure of the mood of the country than polls about personality popularity. This isn't high school.

This year's election likely will be a referendum on the economy. If it is, Democrats will rue the day they voted against tax cuts designed to lift the economy and create jobs.  With their ballots, Americans will remind Democrats that it is still about the economy STUPID.