CNN
President Joe Biden must work harder to spread some holiday cheer now that we have a great deal of positive economic news to celebrate.
The United States had the lowest weekly jobless claims in more than 52 years and wages are rising. Although inflation remains a real problem in certain sectors, gas prices have started to drop, shipping is getting cheaper and bottlenecks in the supply chain are easing up. Though the stock market has gone through several swings in recent weeks, overall, the trend has been positive and investors are reaping historic profits.
To be sure, the Omicron variant of Covid-19 continues to pose global risks, nearly two years into the pandemic. But the state of the US economy is pretty good given the circumstances.
Yet voters don’t seem happy. Polls show that Americans are not pleased with the economy and President Biden’s leadership on that front. According to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, Americans are going into the midterm season feeling pessimistic about the future. The Republicans, many feel, are better positioned to handle several economic challenges including inflation.
In other words, there is a huge disconnect between the economic data and the way voters are feeling. This is a big problem for Democrats. If political strategist James Carville was right when he famously coined the phrase, “It’s the economy, stupid,” then the President and his party need to make sure voters have a better grasp of the US’ economic recovery.
Biden, of course, faces a number of obstacles that will be difficult to overcome. In our age of intense political polarization, large parts of the electorate are unlikely to change their minds about Biden — regardless of what happens. It will be virtually impossible for the President to persuade some voters — especially those who consume information from media outlets like Fox News — that any of the economic data should be greeted with applause. To paraphrase the words of comedian Groucho Marx, whatever it is, they’re against it.
It’s important to note that the good news doesn’t necessarily drown out the real difficulties Americans face. The effect of inflation on key goods, including food, will impact how families feel about the direction of the economy. And due to chronic economic inequality, there are many families in lower income brackets who struggle to make ends meet, in good times and bad. The ongoing pandemic, moreover, continues to create a level of deep uncertainty. Until Covid-19 is under control and the horrors of the last two years fade from memory, reports of new variants will continue to shake the economic confidence of the electorate.
That doesn’t mean Biden and the Democrats should simply throw their hands in the air and sit by, waiting for Republicans to triumph in the 2022 midterms. Even with the challenges of a fragmented media and intense political polarization, presidents still have a huge platform at their command and Biden should take advantage of it.
The President needs to remind Americans just how far we’ve come since the dark…
