Colin Reed: Biden's strong start – Republicans must do this if they hope to succeed in midterms
The pump is primed for things to get even better for Team Biden
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Don’t look now, but Joe Biden is a on a roll.
After last year’s low wattage campaign, expectations were low for Uncle Joe as president. Some 50 odd days in, all but the most committed partisans would admit he is off to a strong start.
Muscled through the all-Democrat Congress, his $1.9 trillion stimulus package is the law of the land. Checks for $1,400 are en route to 150 million Americans.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Yes, the frequently-cited approval numbers around relief package are overwrought – who would ever respond "no way!" when asked about getting handed free cash – but the bill is poised to ignite the embers of an economy already beginning to stir.
The pump is primed for things to get even better for Team Biden. The weather is warming, vaccines are rolling and the economy is humming – a potent concoction for an electorate that has been consuming little but COVID-induced dread during a long year of lockdown.
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To be sure, Biden is not responsible for all the contributing factors driving the collective sense of euphoria, and his predecessor will never get credit for the incredible speed of the vaccine development, but the party in power gets rewarded when voters feel good.
Meanwhile, the GOP is offering barely a whimper in response. It is the responsibility of the out-of-power party to serve as a watchdog on the excesses and shortcomings of the party in power in the hopes of convincing voters to give them a chance during the midterm elections.
Debunking the masquerade of Biden the moderate is a good place to start. He may present himself as a middle-of-the-road guy with his "aw shucks" demeanor, but his policies and picks for Cabinet are anything but. Yet, almost all, save Neera Tanden for Office of Management and Budget (OMB), have sailed through Congress relatively unscathed.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bellyaching about Biden’s lack of press conferences or high-fiving the sinking of Neera Tanden does not qualify as effective counter programming.
Four years ago, it was a much different picture. Democratic senators with White House ambitions used the confirmation proceedings of President Trump’s picks to great political effect. They maximized the platform of their day job in Congress to audition for the job they really wanted on the other end of Pennsylvania Avenue.
They may have failed to prevent Trump from getting to the White House, but they were determined to either derail or take a pound of flesh from anyone who dared work for him.
In fact, a May 2017 analysis from Politico dubbed a half dozen Democratic senators, including future Vice President Kamala Harris, the "hell-no caucus" after they opposed virtually all of Trump’s nominees.
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Fast forward to today, and Republicans are confirming Biden’s nominees, save Tanden, with comfortable margins. Even the dust-up around U.S. Rep. Deb Haaland – Biden’s pick to lead the Interior Department who supports the Green New Deal and opposes fracking and drilling – blew over.
During the Trump years, you can bet the opposing Democrats would have made political hay over a nominee with views as extreme as Haaland’s. Now, enough Republicans signed off on her nomination to qualify it as a bipartisan.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They may take place immediately after a presidential election, but Cabinet confirmations represent the opening rounds of the next contest. It sends a message that the party that doesn’t hold the White House means business and takes its watchdog role seriously.
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Bellyaching about Biden’s lack of press conferences or high-fiving the sinking of Neera Tanden does not qualify as effective counter programming. Nor does simply sitting back and hoping political gravity and history will bail them out in the midterms.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Of course, there is a lot of time between now and next year’s midterms for Biden to fall on his face. But if the Republicans don’t find their voices in the opposition soon, Biden and his party could head into next year with the wind at their back and momentum on their side.