Either Biden has been-- as many of us expected-- a crappy president or he hasn't been that bad but has been prevented from doing anything significant by a coalition of Republicans and conservative Democrats in Congress. No matter which, the end result is that voters have finally figured out that they don't think he's a good president. What a shame they couldn't figure that out before Obama (and Clyburn) tricked them into giving him the nomination to stop Bernie!
But the country is now stuck with this lemon and there's a resurgent fascist movement banging on the door, one that the vast majority of voters hasn't noticed and probably won't notice until it's too late (just the way they didn't notice what Biden was made of until it was too late). This morning, Robert Reich offered a possible backdoor out of this conundrum, the back door the DCCC and DSCC have been counting on: Trumpophobia. Remember, no matter how much Americans are not into Biden, they're not into Trump even more. The most recent YouGov poll shows their relative favorability among registered voters:
Biden- 45% (50% unfavorable)
Trump- 43% (51% unfavorable)
Reich's contention is that the Democrats can avoid a collapse in the midterms-- despite having accomplish very little of substance for the voters-- by... watching Trump destroy the GOP from within. "Almost every time Trump moves center stage," Reich contends, "Republicans’ odds decline. This is especially true in the swing suburbs that will determine the outcome of the midterms. For a few months I thought Trump would stay quiet, but he’s constitutionally unable to keep his big mouth shut. " He offered some examples from the past week:
Trump's unendorsement of Mo Brooks followed by Brooks' bean-spilling about Trump's coup
Trump's continuing love affair with Putin at an inconvenient moment with the fascist dictator (the one in Moscow) being called out for war crimes
Trump's latest rally reminded people what they hate about him
Trump even managed to stick his nose into #OrgyGate-- the one thing every other Republican agrees needs to be off the front pages ASAP-- inviting the Republican Party's most-hated asshole-of-the-week, Madison Cawthorn, to be a special guest speaker at his next rally in North Carolina for another Trump loser, Ted Budd.
[T]he January 6 committee’s report will be released in a few months. Expect a firestorm that may even force Hamlet-like Attorney General Merrick Garland to charge Trump with crimes. (Some argue that America does not prosecute its former presidents. While that’s historically true, before Trump no former president had launched an attempted coup or criminal insurrection.)
As if all this weren’t enough to keep him in the news, Trump has placed big midterm election bets on dozens of ballots across the nation, through Trump-branded “endorsements.” This means Trump will be a central player in campaigns just about everywhere.
So whether the Republican Party likes it or not (and even if Democrats are reluctant to talk about Trump because political operatives advise them not to) Trump is going to feature big in the upcoming midterms. As a result, the swing suburbs are more likely to vote Democratic-- increasing the odds that Democrats will keep control over the House and Senate.
This is no guarantee that Democrats will keep control over the House and Senate, of course. As I’ve said countless times, Democrats need an economic-populist message to put them over the top because most Americans accurately believe the economic game is rigged in favor of the super-wealthy and are furious about it-- and if Democrats don’t talk about this no one will. (The Republicans won’t deliver this message; they’re too busy stirring up culture wars.) Nevertheless, Trump remains for Democrats the gift that keeps giving.
Personally, I wouldn't count on Trumpanzee to save the Democrats' midterms bacon. Passing some good legislation (like a minimum wage increase that is being blocked by conservative Democrats working with the GOP) might, although it could even be too late in the game for that to matter. Or maybe some executive orders, like student loan forgiveness. Short of that... expect-- and brace for-- the worst in November.
