He also acknowledged the spiking inflation, the troubles with supply chains and the so-far failed efforts to convert some of his key legislative proposals into law.
But rather than announce a change in strategy, a retooling of his administration’s goals or personnel, he explained, “What I have to do is a
change in tactics.” Biden said he will spend more time on the road and even on social media, making sure the American people understand what he has accomplished and what he plans to do. He also promised to work hard to help elect Democrats in November, perhaps a response to
some grumbling on that front.
Biden sounded at times like a man frustrated, feeling misunderstood. “Can you think of any president who’s done more in one year?” he asked. He listed the
trillions of dollars in massive infrastructure and
Covid relief bills enacted earlier in the year. He noted that just two million people had been vaccinated when he took office, compared to
more than 200 million today, and listed a litany of significant administration achievements.
He made no apology for his ambitious plans and vowed to keep pushing to get them enacted. His Build Back Better social safety net plan, he said for the first time, will have to be broken up into pieces and he expects “big chunks” to pass before the midterm elections in November. With Biden’s approval sinking, Democrats are shuddering at the thought of being painfully punished by voters and losing their majorities in Congress.
He conceded that his hopes for bipartisanship have been frustrated by the GOP. Biden repeatedly asked of Republicans and of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, “What are they for?” — suggesting they have nothing to offer beyond their efforts to block his agenda, as they cower in
fear of upsetting the former president and facing a primary opponent.
Given the unprecedented challenges he has faced, Biden said McConnell’s argument that the primaries will be a referendum on his presidency does not worry him. His first-year score card, he said, is “pretty good.”
Biden’s big bet is that supply chain troubles and the pandemic will ease before the midterms, lowering inflation and allaying discontent. That, he clearly expects, would lift his approval ratings and the prospects for Democrats.
On Russia, Biden issued some even-keeled but tough warnings to Putin. He said he doesn’t think Putin has decided whether or not to invade Ukraine, but chillingly added, “My guess is he will move in.”
After a mobilization of this magnitude, and after all the ultimatums the Kremlin has issued, it’s not surprising that Biden thinks that Putin feels like
“he has to do something.” If so, Biden said,
“I think he will regret having done it.” Biden’s references to a more limited response to a “minor incursion” were unclear. Whether that was by design is impossible to know.
The President warned that a “further invasion” (Russia has already invaded Ukraine and seized some of its territory) would bring repercussions like Putin has never seen. It would be
“a disaster for Russia,” vowing that the US and its allies and partners would inflict “significant harm.” He noted the
hundreds of millions of dollars in defensive military equipment and training the US and its allies have transferred to Ukraine, noting that Russia could ultimately defeat its neighbor, but the cost would be severe.
When a reporter suggested the US might accept Putin’s demand that NATO remove its military forces from eastern Europe, Biden swiftly rejected the idea. “We’re actually going to
increase troop presence in Poland, Romania and the like,” if Putin invades.
To anyone who has been watching the breathless analysis of the Biden presidency as a failing enterprise, it may have come as a surprise to see that Biden doesn’t see it that way. If he did, he would be changing directions.
Instead, he seems to plan simply to
shift gears, to rev up the messaging and get more input from people outside the administration. If he’s right, if his slumping approval is primarily the result of temporary circumstances and inadequate communications and he can push his legislative plan of action in smaller, somewhat more modest portions, his stepped-up messaging effort might just convince voters to see his presidency through the same pleasantly tinted Ray Bans as Biden does.
