Call it a misdiagnosis, or willful ignorance, whatever the case, but President Biden answered a question regarding the devastating losses Democrats suffered around the country on Election Day and seems to be clueless as to what actually happened. Heading into Tuesday, after campaigning with Terry McAuliffe in Virginia, Biden was set to take credit for whatever happened, assuming Democrats would pull out a victory. Now, though, with the crushing losses setting in, Biden is singing a different tune, blaming Congress for not acting, and vowing to press ahead with a pair of socialist spending bills filled with trillions of dollars in pet projects and inflationary policies.
For Biden, it truly boils down to voters being “upset” in his mind, and that’s why they voted the way they did because Democrats didn’t lead them properly:
As Biden continued his answer, he seemed to suggest that the fact that his agenda was stalled in a divided Congress had played a role. Even before Election Day, some observers had predicted that congressional gridlock would play an outsize role in the race given Virginia’s proximity to D.C. — indeed, much of the state is in the Washington media market.
“What I do know is, though, is people want us to get things done. They want us to get things done and that’s why I’m continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my Build Back Better bill,” Biden said. “Think about what we’re talking about here. People are upset and uncertain about a lot of things: from COVID to school to jobs to a whole range of things and — the cost of a gallon of gasoline — and so, if I’m able to pass and sign into law my Build Back Better initiative, I’m in a position where you’re going to see a lot of those things ameliorated quickly and swiftly.”
Wait, what? Look at that last part in bold. If, President Biden says, he is able to sign this trillion-dollar boondoggle, then all these problems like school issues, Covid concerns, and the cost of gasoline will be mitigated with one swoop of a pen. That line of thinking couldn’t be more wrong or more dangerous for Democrats.
Passing this legislation, any legislation, for that matter, would end up with zero effect on the issues voters cared about on Tuesday. From local school board matters, to inflation, to fighting Covid mandates, voters went in the exact opposite direction from where the Democratic Party is headed nationally. One of Glenn Youngkin’s talking points in his pitch was that workers shouldn’t lose their jobs because they choose not to take a Covid vaccine. Does that sound like voters wanting more government involvement and bigger influence?
Biden is living in a fantasy world if he believes the problem was that Congress didn’t go far enough fast enough and spend money quickly enough.
According to recent polling in mid-October, most voters felt as though whatever Congress passes will leave them worse off or have no effect:
Highlighting the challenge facing Democrats trying to make a case for the bills, the poll finds relatively few see this package of an economic bill and an infrastructure bill as one that would help them personally. If Congress were to pass both bills, only about a quarter (25%) say their family would be better off, while 32% say they would be worse off and 43% say they would be about the same.
That’s a stunning lack of confidence in the Democratic agenda right now. Congress wants to spend trillions and most Americans think it will have no positive impact on their lives or the country in general. With that in mind, Biden is still under the belief that he can push this forward and voters be damned!
If it happens, which is still looking shaky since Sen. Joe Manchin and Sen. Kyrsten Sinema are still driving the car, and they’re pressing the brake pedal, Democrats can expect far worse losses in 2022.
When pressed specifically on whether his poor ratings and disaster of a presidency contribute to McAuliffe’s loss, Biden blamed Congress:
Pressed if he took responsibility for McAuliffe’s loss and whether he thought it would have been prevented if his agenda had been passed before Election Day, Biden said, “I think it should have passed before Election Day, but I’m not sure that I would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out in red districts who were Trump voters — maybe, maybe.”
Well, Joe, why do you think record numbers of “conservative folks” turned out all over Virginia? Biden just accidentally rebutted himself when it comes to whether Congress passing this trillion-dollar steaming trash heap would have helped or hurt McAuliffe. Clearly, voters were saying “No” to the national Democratic Party agenda and saying “No” to more government in their lives at every level. They want the government to focus on the issues that government is supposed to focus on, like keeping taxes low, businesses open, and the country and communities safe.
Biden is deluding himself and his party if he continues, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi, to drive the car off the cliff under some misguided belief that if they’d only done it sooner, Virginia voters would’ve thanked them by sending party-hack Terry McAluffe back to Richmond for four years. In what reality does that look remotely possible now?
In Biden’s mind, Democrats are doing just fine, and it’ll all work out somehow. He doesn’t know how yet, but then, he doesn’t know a lot of things.
