The GOP pays a price for its extremism. But Biden does, too. By E.J. Dionne Jr. — Read time: 4 minutes

 

Democracy Dies in Darkness

Opinion The GOP pays a price for its extremism. But Biden does, too.

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July 30, 2023 at 6:30 a.m. EDT

President Biden speaks during the Truman Civil Rights Symposium at the National Archives Building on Thursday. (Evan Vucci/AP)

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Republicans might be damaging their long-term prospects with extremist tactics, but Democrats must confront an unhappy reality: The GOP’s merciless personal and ideological warfare, particularly in the House, is making it much harder for President Biden to sell his achievements.

The poisonous nature of our politics nurtures a sense of exhaustion with public life that works against any incumbent, especially one trying to convince voters that the government is making their lives better. As members of the party that believes in public action, Democrats are especially hurt by a mood of frustration and cynicism.

The ferocity of the GOP’s attacks on Biden also fuels public doubts about the president and affects media coverage, even when journalists carefully fact-check Republicans’ claims. A two-minute report on a congressional hearing will inevitably air whatever charges some right-wing committee chair makes. They lodge in memories no matter what might be said during those 120 seconds to debunk them.

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Then there’s Biden’s signature promise to bring the parties together and end the chaos of the Trump years. The president’s problem: Bipartisanship is inherently a two-way street. One party can destroy the other side’s ability to achieve it simply by saying no. “The party in power pays a higher price for the other side’s obstructionism,” said Molly Murphy, a Democratic pollster, though she added that the GOP suffered from its extremism in the three elections since 2018 and would likely do so again next year.

One party can also sow chaos if it wishes. “Biden wants to be known as, and is, a force for stability,” said Geoff Garin, another Democratic pollster. “But when the news is dominated by nuttiness, it’s hard to see stability.”

Nothing would do more to throw Washington into turmoil than an impeachment fight against Biden. So it should surprise no one that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is floating the idea. Notice all the innuendo packed into two sentences he offered to reporters last week: “We continue to gather more information. We’re finding more and more.”

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What information? McCarthy didn’t say. But he’ll be happy if voters imagine there must be something behind this assertion beyond pandering to his caucus’s most extreme members.

Biden has been struggling to boost his approval ratings ever since his polling numbers suffered a one-two punch from the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan in the summer of 2021 and the inflation spike of 2022. Some polls early this year found most Democrats preferring he not seek reelection.

The GOP’s efforts to insert often unsupported accusations into the news cycle muddle Biden’s comeback campaign. “If you’re Biden, you have a really good story to tell,” Garin told me, “but it’s almost impossible to communicate effectively in this media environment.”

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With voters yet to give Biden credit for large-scale job creation on his watch, the ebbing of inflation and the large investments he pushed through Congress, the president has branded his economic strategy as “Bidenomics” to tie his administration to the restoration of prosperity and normalcy after the pandemic.

It is Biden’s answer to Ronald Reagan’s “Morning in America” reelection campaign in 1984, the phrase that defined a powerful television ad that subtly reminded Americans of the high inflation and rising unemployment under his predecessor, Jimmy Carter. The analogy works on many levels, including Reagan’s approval ratings in late July 1983, when two Gallup polls showed them around 42 to 44 percent. That’s roughly where Biden is now.

Biden is also consciously rebuffing Reagan’s trickle-down economics, arguing that government intervention in the economy is essential to “growing the middle class,” the magic words meant to appeal to the diverse coalition the president needs to assemble.

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Getting this message across is vital, said Navin Nayak, president of the liberal Center for American Progress Action Fund. His group’s research shows Republicans have a “built-in, decades-long advantage as the party that’s focused on the economy that makes it harder for Democrats to break through.” Democrats, he added, “don’t talk enough about the economy,” and their economic goals are unclear to voters.

Nayak sees the “Bidenomics” push as an antidote to both problems. Most voters disagree with Republican policies, he said, but they know what Republicans are for on the economy: cut taxes, lower spending, scale back regulations. If Biden is to have a recovery akin to Reagan’s, his campaign will have to reverse the perceptions of the two parties and dispel 2022’s memories.

This will not be an easy climb. A Morning Consult poll this month found 68 percent of Americans saying the country is on the wrong track; only 32 percent think it’s on the right track.

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The promising news for Biden is that the “right track” number was up eight points from about a year ago, and it rose 13 points among Democrats, from 41 percent to 54 percent.

Preventing this trend from taking hold is why Republicans are doing all they can to accentuate the gloomy. If their over-the-top attacks on Biden make you want to give up on politics, GOP leaders will be able to declare “mission accomplished.”

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