Democrats had a roller coaster of a week. The began by having tough elections in Virginia and New Jersey and ended it by passing a historic infrastructure bill with bipartisan support. The warnings of the Virginia election still stand, but Biden can now claim that he’s fulfilling his promise of building bipartisan majorities on important legislation.
The infrastructure bill is the largest investment in the country’s transportation and communications systems since the Eisenhower administration. It’s long overdue and has been promised by both Democratic and Republican presidents. Trump promised to address infrastructure so often that there was a running joke about “infrastructure week” throughout his administration. He never made any progress on the issue, making Biden’s victory even more significant. He got done what Trump and the Republicans couldn’t.
Now, Democrats need to launch a campaign to educate the public about the bill’s benefits. If they are expecting the mainstream media and administration proxies to do the work, they are going to find themselves on the losing end again. The SuperPACs that waste hundreds of millions of dollars on shitty campaign ads need to pony up and hire public relations firms to let people know how the legislation will affect their communities. It should be an ongoing effort that lasts for weeks, if not months.
Imagine if Donald Trump had gotten it done. We would be hearing about “the greatest infrastructure bill in history” ad nauseum. Memes would be inundating social media and he would be scheduling rallies around the country. Democrats don’t need to follow Trump’s over-the-top rhetoric, but they should certainly mimic his PR acumen.
With the passage of the infrastructure bill, Biden has had a remarkably successful first year in office, despite the bad polling numbers. The latest indicators show an economy rapidly recovering from the pandemic-caused recession. Jobs are up, unemployment is down, and GDP is growing at a healthy pace. The pandemic is largely in check and Biden’s vaccine rollout is a big part of that. And, finally, Biden got us out of the forever war in Afghanistan. All in less than 10 months. Democrats should shouting these accomplishments from the roof tops.
The next two month or so will tell us if Democrats can rally beyond their defeat in Virginia. They need to pass some sort of budget that funds a good portion of the Build Back Better agenda to show both good faith within the party and keep the progressive wing of the party engaged. Another prolonged inter-party fight may overshadow the success Biden and the Democrats have seen.
Democrats also need to acknowledge that the pandemic is mostly over and begin reducing restrictions and mandates. People are tired of wearing masks and, now, everybody is either aware of the risk or they don’t believe it’s there. Let local businesses and local governments decide how they want to deal with it. Any mandates and restrictions should be tied to hospitalizations, not case rates. Plenty of people can get the virus without overwhelming our medical system and with the new Pfizer treatment, the risk of severe illness is decreasing even more. Living under a constant threat of closures is stressful and causes resentment of governments, even when they’ve handled the pandemic well.
For Democrats, Virginia should be a wakeup call. They have had a successful year, but they have done little to let the general public know about their accomplishments. The world of SuperPACs lives in a campaign mentality, sitting on their millions when they should be spending them now on a branding operation, especially in the suburbs and exurbs. They should be attacking the GOP for opposing popular programs like paid family leave, universal pre-school, and expansion of green energy initiatives to combat climate change. And they should paint them as hypocrites who talk about law and order but won’t hold accountable the people who organized an attack on our government and democracy. Democrats need to go on the offensive now so they aren’t playing defense next November.
Thomas Mills is the founder and publisher of PoliticsNC.com. Before beginning PoliticsNC, Thomas spent twenty years as a political and public affairs consultant. Learn more >
Democrats have gone totalitarian. Its plain to see. Until that changes they will lose.
The USA is about freedom individual freedom. Not socialital or group freedom.
There is no such things as group rights and responsibilities. These are ideas of totalitarians who step all over the individual rights. to make everyone fit into their mold.
This is what is going on with COVID and its why The democrats thankfully (unless they drum up some new COVID fear) will be put in the dog house for a long time.
Its happening globally as well.
What is it a 35% approval rate, of Democrat weighted polls.and only 30% of the democrat own party wants the guy and no one wants him to run again?
Sorry Biden (or actually whoever runs him since he is not capable of doing it) is doing a horrible job, or maybe they are exactly doing the job they want The daily life of all Americans where it counts the most is not so hot. but then again Democrats have for year talked about American have it too good that our lifestyle is bad for the planet etc. So now its pretty obvious that they are going to cut us down to size and FORCE US to LIVE how THEY WANT US TO.
Contrary to democratic beliefs Americans are not stupid and see this clearly. Covid also is just a means to an end, and the power given to the Democrats will never be willingly given back. The chance to divide the American people further is too powerful a temptation.
As for “infrastructure” (which has been talked and spent on since Clinton!) When does it end? Its what you are SUPPOSED TO DO. So no brownie points for doing your job.
anyway the bill is too big and inflationary and loaded with taxes which everyone under 400K will pay. So so much for that promise.
0 out of 10 Biden loses again.
Biden’s approval rating is on the rise. He is (as of Friday) according to Nate Silver at 42.8 %. This figure will get larger after folks see the effects of some of the latest legislation and their taxes do not go up.
The economy could not recover as long as large numbers of Americans choose to be irresponsible about a highly infectious pandemic. COVID has devastated our economy and workforce and has killed three quarters of a million Americans and infected 46 million. The Republicans talk about rights, but they have no plan to cure the pandemic. Other pandemics which do not appear to raise their ire including polio, diphtheria, measles, mumps, Rubella, chickenpox, pneumonia, and hepatitis. North Carolina children are required to have these shots before they expose other children to these diseases. Not a peep about their rights from the wacko right wing. The prior president chose to ignore and lie about the dangers of COVID and North Carolinians paid a heavy price for it. Biden made it Job 1. We have lingering strains of the virus because the right continues to make an epidemiological issue into a political one. The rabid right continues to die in large numbers and get infected at pre-preventative levels. They do not learn.
Having dealt with Job 1, Biden’s Job 2 appears to have been the Infrastructure. This bill will continue to drive down unemployment to its lowest levels in years. The economy will prosper at higher levels than today. There are already plenty of jobs and wages are rising. Republicans are unhappy because they could not cure a pandemic and stimulate an economy that crashed under their leadership. The economy and our health does not run on lies and fantastical stories. COVID does not respond to quack cures and claims of con men. Science and vaccines are what God gave us to cure diseases,
I hope voting rights and packing the court are on his list of accomplishments soon.
As long as the threat of the national OSHA-enforced vaccine mandate hangs over people’s heads, none of the things you mentioned are going to be at the forefront of people’s minds. And when (not if, but when) blue states start adding COVID vaccination to their vaccine schedules, it’ll evolve from, “Take the jab or be fired” to, “force the jab on your kids or they can’t go to school.”
As long as Democrats are committed to these sorts of policies, it’ll feel like they’re holding guns to the heads of voters and voters’ kids, and they will make you pay for it next year. No PR campaign in the world is going to overcome that.
So, Democrats forcing folks to take measures to protect themselves, their family and society from a disease that has killed thousands and left others with long term disabilities, such as “brain fog” and others. Moreover, you believe that Democrats will lose elections as this policy offends their basic right to be stupid! Clove, without exception, you lack the slightest inkling of common sense.
What has produced a drop in Biden’s popularity polls is not related to his handling of COVID but to Afghanistan. Unfortunately, Biden carried out a program created by Trump. This was a terrible error. He should have known better then to employ any program that Trump and his marry little band of grafters and near do wells had any hand in the planning. But unfortunately, before Biden got there, Trump’s minions had signed agreements with the Taliban which bound the US and its allies to follow a timetable.
Once these Biden build back better programs kick in Folks are going to find this country even a better place to live. It will be especially sweet when they discover their taxes don’t skyrocket.
As long as you assert that you have the authority to protect people from themselves, that people should submit to the will of experts and need a degree from gatekeeping institutions to have the right to make their own decisions, as long as you assert that you own people’s children and will inject into them whatever you want…you will lose, and deservedly so.
Clove, protecting folks from the selfish, self-centered desire of an individual proclaiming he or she has the absolute right to infect whoever he or she pleases in the name of freedom is a no brainier!
Clove, I might add this: society has created institutions for folks who believed they have a right to unreasonably endanger the lives and property of others to serve their own selfish interests.
Refusing to be properly vaccinated to serve that individual’s confused understanding of freedom is nothing short of insanity.
Of course, as a matter of fact, only a minority of your party (the GOP) refuse to be vaccinated. Trump, your fearless leader, and stable genius is vaccinated as is his family. Only the suckers and losers refuse vaccinations to prove their loyalty.