During a recent “This Week” episode, NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid said the Biden campaign has trouble selling its anti-Trump message because “many voters are looking at this election as a referendum” on the sitting President.
While Biden’s messaging was “effective” in the 2020 landscape, things have changed drastically – and not for the better. Khalid said she is “surprised” by how many Democratic voters voiced a sense of nostalgia for the Trump presidency.
During a recent visit to Pennsylvania, Khalid noticed a consistent concern among people regarding the economy, with many voicing their dissatisfaction. She found it surprising that even staunch Democrats felt nostalgic for the Trump era, reminiscing over their financial prosperity during his term, including his presidency’s positive impact on 401(k) and retirement accounts.
But fellow panelist, Representative Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), argued that people were “glamorizing” Trump’s presidency and forgetting the way he “affected abortion access” through SCOTUS Justice appointments.
Appointments, she said, that “took away” reproductive rights, “attacked” DEI and affirmative action, and stopped Biden’s unconstitutional student loan forgiveness plan.
But Khalid says that in her more recent interviews, she has encountered a “less than enthusiastic” Democratic voter base, even among Black voters. Surveys and studies have shown that the Biden campaign has experienced a significant decline in support from younger voters, Latino voters, and Black voters who had voted for him in 2020. These groups hold Biden accountable for the disastrous economy they now face.
But Khalid reassures her audience that “in the next breath,” these unhappy Democrats would tell her they won’t vote for Trump in 2024 “for a variety of reasons.” The Biden administration is trying to appeal to these voters in crucial battleground states like Michigan and Georgia by touring to promote its “Bidenomics” message.
However, Team Biden has already embraced the term “Bidenomics” and was forced to abandon it numerous times when faced with a harsh reality – Americans aren’t buying it. The term had fallen out of favor as recently as March, and why Biden has decided to go back to this failed messaging is a mystery.
Millions live paycheck to paycheck and max out credit cards to pay for necessities in Biden’s America. They can’t be convinced that they live better now than they did under Trump.
Khalid’s observations prove that even for Democrats, a stranger’s ability to have an abortion will not take away the far more personal sting of Biden’s failed economy.
