LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, wants to capture the same magic as 2020 when his Democrat strategists help demonize 77-year-old President Donald Trump. Actually, Democrat strategists, like 80-year-old James Carville, didn’t have to do much other than let the convergence of world events militate against the incumbent. With American dropping like flies in the Covid-19 global pandemic, the worst infectious disease crisis since the 1918 Spanish Flu, American voters panicked, listening to a bevy of experts led by 84-year-old Dr. Anthony Fauci and 80-year-old Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward dismantle Trump’s credibility, blaming him for the thousands of death from Covid-19, only getting worse over the entire Election Year. By the time the election rolled around, voters would believe and do anything to see Trump replaced by Biden, not knowing how he would rule.
During the six months before the 2020 election, voters were treated with a double-whammy, Covid-19 and the Minneapolis Police killing of George Floyd, creating race riots around the country. Riots went on for the entire 2020 election, robbing voters of accurate reporting, only displaying daily race riots. So, between Covid-19 deaths and race riots, voters had seen enough, blaming the whole deal on Trump. What voters didn’t see in 2020 was that Biden would create the worst inflation in over 40 years, largely due to joining Ukraine’s War with the Kremlin. Biden decided to fund Ukraine’s war, destroying generations of U.S.-Russian relations. Biden decided unilaterally to boycott all Russian oil, insisting that all Western Alliance countries do the same. Biden’s Russian oil embargo fueld the worst inflation in energy prices seen since the 1970s when OPEC embargoed oil, causing shortages and skyrocketing prices. Inflation wen through the roof after Biden’s decision.
Voters now have to decide whether they can afford to allow Biden to manage the U.S. economy for another four years. Most polls shows Trump beating Biden on managing the economy by nearly 20%, something leading to Biden slipping in the polls Real pocket book issues now sway voters once thinking they need to back Biden because he says Trump will destroy democracy, blaming him for the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection, something that wasn’t an insurrection at all but a White riot. Biden and Democrats claim that Trump planned and orchestrated the Jan. 6 riots, but never offered any proof, other that Jan. 6 rioters apparently backing Trump for president. Well, the fact that rioters backed Biden for president in 2020, doesn’t mean that he planned the anarchist street riots that went on for monthis. But Democrats and the press blamed Trump for the Jan. 6 riots.
So when pollsters ask folks w o they’d voter for in 2024, it’s a different ballgame in 2024 with Covid-19 in the rearview mirror. Voters are worried that inflation and high interest rates are hear to stay, especially with Biden saying will keep the Ukraine War going indefinitely, until Russia surrenders. Putin has vowed to stay in Ukraine for the long haul, refusing to surrender to the U.S. or Ukraine. Yet, Biden pushed for another $61 billion, assuring that Ukraine’s War with the Kremlin will go on without end. Biden and Zelensky’s own generals have said there is no military solution to the Ukraine War. Yet, Biden insists that if Ukraine loses the war to Russia, the rest of Europe would be at risk of a Russian takeover. Biden has no facts for his statements but uses it as a justification or continued war. Meanwhile, voters see that U.S.-Russian relations have deteriorated to the worst levels since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Voters see the economy and foreign policy as different than under Trump. When Trump was president, oil prices hit a record low, dropping pump prices, lowering transportation costs, keeping prices under control. Biden said recently he inherited 9% inflation from Trump in 2021, something actually running at 1.5% . So whatever happened a year after Biden took office Jan. 20, 2021, it’s entirely on Biden’s shoulders. Voters know, or at least have heard, that Biden’s $4 trillion in stimulus spending helped fuel inflation along with the Russian oil embargo Unlike 2020, where voters dumped Trump out of fear, they now fear another four years of Biden in the White House. Voters know that things could get a lot worse if the war escalates in Ukraine or another war breaks out in China. Voters have more trepidation about giving Biden another four years in office.t
Biden’s campaign hopes they can reprise the same strategy that worked in 2020, when voters are confronted with different issues today. Most voters find themselves squeezed economically, not knowing what will happen with inflation. Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell said markets will have to wait for a Federal Funds cut for in indefinite future given the Fed’s current read on inflation. So, with a 24-year high in interest rates and mortgage rates above 7%, ordinary consumers are paying a much bigger share of their pay to food and energy, but, more importantly, rent, something not likely to improve between now and the election. Biden keeps touting his economic record, claiming inflation has been tamed but not admitting that he’s responsible for the current economic malaise that affects all voters, especially those living at the margins.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
