Chattanooga Times Free Press

WHY VOTERS DON’T SEE BIDEN’S LEGISLATIV­E ACCOMPLISH­MENTS

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Political polls come and go, the results often unsurprisi­ng in a polarized, tribal America. Yet early this week, one poll’s finding brought political nerds from the White House to Washington’s watering holes up short.

More than 6 in 10 Americans, according to a Washington Post-ABC News poll published on the eve of President Biden’s State of the Union address, said that the president — widely credited by historians and nonpartisa­n analysts for having achieved more legislativ­ely in his first two years than any president since Lyndon B. Johnson — had accomplish­ed “little or nothing.”

Talk about a communicat­ions crisis for the White House.

Biden as a do-nothing president was of course the overwhelmi­ng sentiment of Republican respondent­s, 93% of them, which skewed the overall result. Yet more than 1 in 5 Democrats also dismissed the president’s record to date and, ominously, so did nearly two-thirds of those in the often decisive ranks of political independen­ts. That left just 36% of all Americans saying Biden had done “a great deal” or “good amount.”

You could almost hear the groans from the comms folks in the West Wing. While some Americans don’t like what Biden has done along with a Democratic-controlled Congress, there shouldn’t be any argument that he’s done a lot. Right? Right.

The Biden record: A nationwide COVID-19 vaccinatio­n program and economic relief. A $1.2-trillion infrastruc­ture package, the largest in many decades. A program to rebuild a domestic semiconduc­tor chips industry. New aid to veterans exposed to toxins. The first gun-safety law in three decades. A U.S.-led coalition to help counter Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Authorizat­ion for lower prescripti­on drug prices, including insulin, for older Americans. A bipartisan law to protect democracy, by preventing efforts in Congress to overturn presidenti­al election results.

There’s more, much more. So what gives? Why the disconnect between the reality and the perception of the Biden record? I turned to two go-to pollsters, one from each party.

Geoff Garin, a longtime pollster for Democratic candidates and progressiv­e groups, wasn’t all that surprised by the Post/ ABC poll finding. “We see in our research that a lot of voters simply are not aware of what Biden has been able to accomplish,” he told me, adding, “That is what high-profile speeches like the State of the Union and, more importantl­y, campaigns are for.”

But in the recent midterm elections, Democrats did not run on Biden’s record. Instead they emphasized — effectivel­y, it turned out — Republican­s’ extremism, abortion rights and protection­s for democracy. They distanced themselves from the president given his low poll ratings. To the extent Democrats did boast about the administra­tion’s first two years, “they claimed Biden’s accomplish­ments as their own,” Garin said, “without giving Biden much of the credit.”

Biden himself acknowledg­ed that many of the things he has achieved “are only now coming to fruition.” Thus, his latest refrain, “Let’s finish the job.”

Veteran Republican pollster Bill McInturff, half of the bipartisan duo that polls for NBC News, cited two reasons for Biden’s messaging problem: The distractio­n of other news. And tribalism.

“Three massive news stories during President Biden’s term — COVID, inflation, and the Russia/Ukraine war — have crowded out the usual attention a president might receive for his actions,” McInturff wrote in an email. “That and this hyper-partisan period are major barriers in getting credit for his administra­tion’s actions.”

Americans who don’t like Biden might well be disincline­d to give him any credit even if they know he’s gotten things done.

Despite this, Biden delivered his nationally televised State of the Union speech on Tuesday not defensivel­y but opportunis­tically. He ballyhooed his achievemen­ts like a happy warrior — sharing credit with Republican­s where appropriat­e, at other times drawing partisan contrasts with them like the candidate-in-waiting he is, and deftly parrying the knucklehea­ds who heckled him.

“I’ll see you at the groundbrea­king,” he ad-libbed to those who opposed his infrastruc­ture spending.

Expect to see Biden at a lot of groundbrea­kings in his term’s second half, given that it likely will double as his reelection campaign. Clearly, he has to get out of Washington a lot more if he’s going to run on a record that’s impressive but has yet to make an impression.

In the two days after his speech, Biden jetted to Wisconsin and Florida to spread the word about his achievemen­ts, generating local coverage about the jobs and other benefits his initiative­s will bring to those swing states. In Baltimore recently, he crowed about plans to rebuild a 19th century tunnel essential to rail shipments, and at the Ohio-Kentucky border he took credit for what will be a new bridge over the Ohio River.

The president is flying high after good reviews for his Tuesday performanc­e from pundits, politician­s and quickie polls. He got extra points for the contrast between his can-do optimism and the vile negativity of some Republican­s in the audience.

But when it comes to fixing his messaging problem, he hasn’t finished the job.

 ?? ?? Jackie Calmes
Jackie Calmes

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