When the White House launched the “Bidenomics” slogan last June, it was thought that because the economy was improving — gas prices were down and inflation was coming down — that Joe Biden could ride the coattails of an improving economy to a big re-election victory.
But 90% of politics is perception. And while the raw numbers show the economy coming out of the pandemic with some improvement, a majority of Americans don’t find much comfort in that.
“Bidenomics is about the future,” Biden declared in his speech last June to cheering supporters. “Bidenomics is just another way of saying: Restore the American dream.”
Just 34% of Americans approve of the way that Biden is handling the economy. No matter what you call it, it’s not impressing anyone.
Bidenomics is likely to go down in history with that other failed presidential slogan, “Whip Inflation Now” (WIN) — Gerald Ford’s ill-conceived attempt to rally the country to beat price increases. And when most of the Democrats are refusing to use the term “Bidenomics” on the campaign trail, you can assume that the term will shortly end up where WIN landed — on the ash heap of history.
Rep. Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.) is a first-term congressman who won his seat by less than a percentage point. Biden won his district by six points. Yet just about the last thing Vasquez is going to do is mention “Bidenomics” or Joe Biden and the Democratic agenda when he’s speaking. “I’m hyper-focused on the district. I think the most important job that a congressperson can do is first listen, and then react,“ Vasquez said. “And so I’m not going to go into my district pushing a Democratic agenda that people don’t feel is happening on the ground.”
Biden-what?
The administration has moved aggressively to not just claim ownership of the economy, but to broadcast how good the news around it is: from falling inflation, to steady job growth, to diminished talk of a forthcoming recession. They anticipate the good news will ramp up with factory groundbreakings and bridge ribbon cuttings at the heart of the Inflation Reduction Act, bipartisan infrastructure law and CHIPs and Science Act. As the economy continues to improve, they believe, voters will start crediting them for “Bidenomics’” most popular items and general economic improvement.
To help move public opinion, Cabinet officials and senior White House officials have traveled across the country touting projects launched by Biden-era investments. The president will hit the road this week as well. On Tuesday, he’ll begin the swing in Arizona to highlight conservation and climate resilience. On Wednesday, he’ll go to Albuquerque, N.M., to talk about the Inflation Reduction Act’s clean energy manufacturing provisions, and on Thursday, he’ll go to Salt Lake City, Utah, to talk about the PACT Act, which provides benefits to veterans exposed to burn pits or other toxic chemicals.
Some nameless aide no doubt appealed to Biden’s well-known vanity and coined the term “Bidenomics” because the president actually believes it will sell. When about 70% of the country has never heard of the so-called “Inflation Reduction Act,” how can it possibly be used as an election-winning talking point?
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A far easier concept to sell is the $5.5 trillion in spending this administration has disappeared down the rabbit hole, enriching Biden supporters in labor and favored industries but leaving most of the rest of the country untouched. Biden has, in effect, bought himself four years of indifferent economic growth — and troublesome inflation — that he hopes will be enough to get him re-elected.
It’s a gamble that Biden is taking with the entire U.S. economy.
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