Pity the poor White House staffers who have to deliver poll results to President Biden. The old man is angry to discover he isn’t doing well as he tries to get himself re-elected.
NBC News is reporting that back in January a private meeting at the White House with Biden allies was held with the president. Biden was told about poll numbers in Michigan and Georgia. They told him that his numbers were down because of how he handled the Israel-Hamas war. Trump is up over Biden in both of those swing states. Biden squeaked by with a victory in those states in 2020.
There is a reason that Biden is nicknamed “Old Yeller.” It is more and more rare for him to deliver a speech or remarks without raising his voice in anger. He often flat-out yells. And when he contrasts his yelling with random whispering, it’s just cringeworthy. During the State of the Union address, the president yelled at his audience for 67 minutes. That is not normal behavior.
His temperament must have taken a dark turn if a Biden-friendly news outlet like NBC News is publishing this story. It shows the level of desperation of Democrats with the Biden campaign and with Biden himself.
Biden thinks he is doing well and doesn’t understand why American voters are not giving him credit for his good work. As far as the Israel-Hamas war goes, his spokesperson said Biden makes national security decisions without political considerations. Andrew Bates said, “President Biden makes national security decisions based on the country’s national security needs alone — no other factor.”
Yeah, right.
This White House thinks that Americans are stupid. It’s easy to see that Biden has wobbled on his support of Israel. He saw the poll numbers and decided to favor Hamas over Israel to win back disgruntled Muslim Arab American voters. He needs to pander to them in Michigan because that is where the biggest concentration of Arab Americans reside.
Biden complimented Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s hideous speech that targeted Prime Minister Netanyahu. Schumer called for Netanyahu to be tossed out of office, in a manner of speaking, and the blowback has been strong, including from Netanyahu. Did Biden ask Schumer to make that speech? He said he knew Schumer was going to do it.
Interviews with about 20 lawmakers, past and present administration officials, and Biden allies point to their frustrations with the Biden campaign. Biden is second-guessing travel decisions made by the campaign. He is angry that his message isn’t getting out.
Here’s the thing – this is an incompetent administration and the campaign isn’t much better. His top appointments were made based on checking off identity boxes, not on merit. There aren’t any big successes to tout as a reason for his re-election.
Biden’s poll numbers are historically bad. The question is whether or not he can recover.
Biden has long believed that he isn’t getting sufficient credit for an economy that has created 15 million new jobs. Looking to reach distracted voters who may be tuning in, he told his speechwriters before the State of the Union address to tone down some of the lofty rhetoric and plainly lay out what he’s done, a person familiar with speech preparations said.
Americans aren’t as stupid as Biden thinks. Voters aren’t buying his malarkey because they don’t feel it. He keeps patting himself on the back for creating 15 million new jobs but that’s a lie. Most of the jobs created in Biden’s term in office were created before the pandemic. The millions of jobs that Biden points to are people going back to those jobs. Claiming credit for them is nonsense.
Voters are not eager for a Biden-Trump rematch but the problem for Biden is that he has not delivered for anyone. Voters can look back to four years ago and realize that they were much better off in Trump’s pre-pandemic economy. All demographics of voters did better in Trump’s economy. In Biden’s America, 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
Biden’s staff do not have confidence in his ability to be in front of the press, doing events, and not flub up his speech or remarks. Biden’s dementia is apparent and he is noticeably worse now than he was in 2020. There is nothing he can do about that. The handlers can pump him full of caffeine or pharmaceutical help but that wears off and he’s back to where he started. I don’t know what he was on during the State of the Union address but that was a big mistake. He still got Laken Riley’s name wrong. He delivered a veiled threat to the Supreme Court justices present. His lies were rampant but not fact-checked by those who usually are quick to fact-check Republicans. Shocker, I know.
Allegedly he is showing signs of frustration, as are other Democrats.
During internal discussions, he’ll press aides about which parts of his record to highlight in different states, said a second person who is familiar with the matter.
Surrounded by protective aides who want to minimize the chances of a flub, the 81-year-old president has chafed at restraints that he sees as counter to his natural instincts as a retail politician, a third person familiar with internal discussions said.
He has felt cocooned at times and has been eager to get out more, meet voters face-to-face and take the fight directly to Trump, said the third person and a fourth also familiar with the matter who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss campaign strategy and the president’s private views.
There are signs that some within his party are also losing patience with him.
“Biden stood up in front of the whole world and said, ‘I’m ready. I’m the guy who can take down Donald Trump,’” said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash. “So, he goddamn well better do it. We don’t have time for him to be worried about whether or not people are saying things right or the poll numbers are where they should be. I want focused energy and not defensive anger.”
Biden’s daily schedule is often nothing more than one meeting or a Zoom call. He has been on restful weekends away from the White House for about 40% of his time there. He sure isn’t campaigning as though his time in office depends on it. He looks lazy and out-of-touch. That is his fault, not the fault of voters who fail to see anything worthy of Biden’s re-election.