By Stephen Macaulay
The Biden campaign is elevating its attacks on Donald Trump. There is the Robert DeNiro-voiced ad describing the wackiness cum threat that Trump did and does represent. There is a rollout of spots pointing out that the man is a convicted felon.
Both of these approaches can be useful. To a certain degree.
But a question that needs to be asked is whether either of them is going to move anyone who isn’t already against Trump to the Biden camp.
I am dubious. At most.
Consider: according to the U.S. Senate’s Traditions of the United States Senate, a publication ostensibly for those who are becoming a senator, the organization is sometimes referred to as the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body.” To be fair, it goes on to say, “No one knows for certain who coined that phrase. It came into widespread use in the latter half of the 19th century, and many have questioned its accuracy at various times in the nation’s history, but those words are routinely applied to no other legislature than the ‘upper house’ of the United States Congress.”
So one who is not a senator might assume that there are very smart people there. And said person, seeing a claque of senators applauding Trump last week, might assume that if those members of the august deliberative body think the man is worth hailing, then maybe a mere actor doesn’t know what he is talking about.
While it was once the case — and we don’t need to go back to the latter half of the 19th century, just to the midpoint of the last decade — that a felon couldn’t be elected dog catcher, apparently that is not as disqualifying as it once was.
As James Carville, who was serving as a strategist for Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign put it, “It’s the economy, stupid.”
And it is still that.
According to a Financial Times/Michigan Ross School of Business survey, those in the Biden camp ought to seriously rethink their messaging strategy.
To cherry-pick the questions about the economy and Joe Biden, there are results like this:
- 40% strongly disapprove of his handling of the economy. An additional 14% somewhat disapprove. That’s not good.
- 40% say that the “overall economic conditions in the United States right now” are “Not so good.” An additional 28% say “Poor.”
- While 31% say that there is no change in their financial situation since Biden became president, 26% say they are “somewhat” worse off and 22% say they are “much” worse off. Although that sums to 48% and is a potential positive (i.e., he’s not underwater), only 6% say they are “much” better off and14% say “somewhat,” so that’s less than half that 48%.
- 13% say Biden’s economic policies have “Hurt the economy somewhat” and 34% say those policies have “Hurt the economy a lot.” Again, that’s less than 50% combined, but hose who say he helped a lot is only 15% and 16% say “somewhat.”
The job market is strong. Biden not only passed a massive infrastructure act (something that Trump talked about — a lot — but didn’t execute). The stock market is at record levels. Employment is strong. And that recession that is always about to occur has yet to manifest itself.
And yet there is a non-trivial number of people who think that Biden is flubbing the economy.
To be sure, much of this is probably predicated on the prices that individuals find when they go to buy groceries or miscellaneous products—but Target, Walmart, Aldi, and others have announced they are cutting their prices, presumably recognizing that the rises made during the pandemic are unsustainable.
Team Biden isn’t doing the job when it comes to messaging on the economy.
If they want to go after Donald Trump’s record, perhaps they should emphasize that his company filed for Chapter 11 four times — and one of those filings was for a casino.
If someone can’t make money running a casino, clearly that person is not some sort of financial wizard.
Regular people can understand that.
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This Column is Open to Pro-MAGA and Never-Trump
With details released on the first presidential debate scheduled for Thursday, June 27 on CNN (see left column) this seems a good time to review The Hustings' origins nearly four years ago. Read our first debates on the debates, on Page 77, including commentary from Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay and contributing editors who were pro-Trump prior to the 1/6/21 attack on the US Capitol.
After the vice presidential debate between Kamala Harris and Mike Pence on October 7, 2020, our contributing editors were debating whether there should even be a second debate between Biden and Trump.
Spoiler Alert: There was a second presidential debate, on October 22, 2020. Shortly afterward, it was revealed that then-President Trump attended the debate while suffering COVID-19.
This year's first Trump v. Biden debate begins 9 pm Eastern time Thursday, June 27, on CNN.
Tell us your reactions to the debate -- who you think won, why, who you will vote for or against -- by Friday June 28. Email editors@thehustings.news and indicate in the subject line whether you consider yourself right/conservative or left/liberal.