When a president seeks reelection, it stands to reason that he will run on his record of accomplishment to convince voters to support him again.
Top Democrats are warning Joe Biden's campaign not to do that, and are, according to a report from CNN, "urging them to spend more time going directly after former President Donald Trump and less time – if any – pointing to the president’s policy record."
The reason, they claim, is that talking about Biden's policy achievements "is not resonating with voters."
You think?
“He wants the credit, but it’s not working,” one top Democrat, who recently shared these concerns with the campaign, said of Biden. “He needs to stop.”
Speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations with the campaign, four sources close to the White House said they’ve urged the Biden camp to go on offense on the economy, using the time on the debate stage to challenge Trump’s cozy relationship with corporate America and the inflationary nature of his proposed policies. Biden and Trump square off in the first presidential debate at 9 p.m. ET on Thursday live on CNN.
Are they really that dense? Have they even considered the reason why touting Biden's so-called record of accomplishment isn't resonating with voters?
During a May interview in Racine, Wisconsin – where Biden had just announced a multi-billion-dollar investment at a site where a similar pledge under Trump had not materialized – Biden visibly bristled when asked why voters still preferred his predecessor’s economic policies, and whether he could turn that sentiment around.
“We’ve already turned it around … the polling data has been wrong all along,” Biden told CNN’s Erin Burnett, challenging the suggestion that economic output had been lower than expected and pointing to job creation as proof the US has “the best economy in the world.”
This election, the sources who spoke to CNN argued, is different than any other reelection race Biden has run. While the US economy has defied predictions of a recession, instead producing blockbuster job growth and output, that strength has driven up prices for consumers and businesses. To stanch that, the Federal Reserve has raised interest rates, making borrowing to buy a car or house much more expensive, too.
Gee, I don't know, could it be that Biden's rhetoric doesn't match reality? Think about it: according to the Biden campaign's talking points, he has reduced the national debt, created 15 million jobs, reduced inflation, increased wages, and is trying to secure the border.
None of that is true. For starters, the national debt is still climbing, and Biden is spending, spending, spending. As for his economic record, most of the jobs Biden claims to have created simply came back after the pandemic shutdowns ended.
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Worse yet, a large chunk of of the jobs that have been created under Biden have gone to illegal immigrants. Meanwhile, prices are still higher than they were under Trump because of inflation. As for wages, they're not keeping up with inflation. Meanwhile, Biden created the border crisis and all the crime that immigrants brought with them.
If any of the accomplishments Biden and his campaign are touting were real and could be felt by the voters, it would make a compelling and arguably solid case for reelection. If an incumbent can't talk about his record, that's a problem when trying to explain to voters why he deserves another term.
And these Democrats telling him to just attack Trump most definitely know Biden's record is garbage.
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