Biden sucks, Obama sucks, and Clinton sucks.
Duh.
Ok, so we’re obviously right-leaning and biased, but Nate Cohn isn’t, and his thread? Painful.
Delicious for us, painful for Democrats.
Take a look:
Biden was supposed to be FDR.
Instead, he's following the playbook of the last half century of politically unsuccessful Democratic presidencies, from LBJ and Clinton to Obama.
The result: only 33% say he's focused on the issues they care abouthttps://t.co/UonFH227AE— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
From LBJ and Clinton to Obama.
Now you know they’re freaking out reading this.
Heh.
I cited this recent CBS/YouGov poll several times, and I think it's worth taking a look at if you missed it.
Public opinion isn't always straightforward, but Biden's situation isn't really all that complicated https://t.co/BxcCLWdiNu pic.twitter.com/zVwTn0lK5t— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
Nope.
Focus on inflation.
Stop babbling about voting rights because we just had an election where 81 million people were able to vote for him. Too busy playing politics to actually do his job.
tbh Biden hasn't had any difficulty passing legislation that's aimed at dealing with immediate challenges / that has a chance to help him politically https://t.co/Ro6b3gISyL
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
I'm not surprised by the replies of course, but I'll leave this for you to mull:
The last three Dem presidents came into office, pushed big transformative legislative initiatives, found themselves at 45% approval after a year.
There may be a political problem with this strategy— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
Yeah, they’ve all sucked.
Ok, so Nate isn’t saying that necessarily but we are.
Many critiques of those presidencies were tactical:
With Clinton, the problem was that the bill didn't pass. With Obama, the bill wasn't popular.
With Biden… it's strategic: these initiatives, disconnected from top issues, don't seem to be what the public really wants— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
The bill wasn’t popular.
No kidding.
Once you reach that conclusion about Biden, I do think you have to ask that question about the rest of them–about nearly every Dem term from FDR's second term to today.
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
The magic of FDR's first term was that the *circumstances* brought an alignment between the public's demands and liberal hopes for bold initiatives, framed as a necessary response to an immediate crisis. Biden had a chance to capture that, and he's lost the thread
— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
Biden’s lost more than that thread but we digress.
Ask me whether I like cake, I'll say yes–politely (I don't love it tbh)
Bring me a cake if my house is burning, and maybe I won't really approve of your performance https://t.co/hwLK1t06Mc— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
This. ^
And remember, almost by definition, the persuadable voters do not necessarily *love* the Democratic agenda, even if they like it. They would be Democrats if they did.
That's a major reason why big policy ideological initiatives never really seem to help any president— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) January 21, 2022
Womp womp womp.
Cue the freak out:
FDR?!! What in his 47 years of bloviating and bullying would have indicated that? Did you account for his clear mental decline at all? 🙄
— JSParker (@jsparker31) January 21, 2022
The median voter is Peggy Hill. Change/transformation is scary to the median voter, even if the proposal was initially popular.
It makes presidents willing to take that hit, to advance needed changes, all the more admirable.
— GenericName (@GenericName2022) January 21, 2022
Yes, crap on the median voter as some redneck. That plays out so well in elections.
You're getting dunked on left and right by serious people who know the history because this whole thread is ludicrous.
— Ellston Logan (@EllstonLogan) January 21, 2022
ARGLE BARGLE RAR!
Heh.
A narrative in search of facts.
— hollygirl2008 B.S. Comp Sci., MBA (@hollygirl2008) January 21, 2022
This thread appears to be you trying to explain yourself out of your initial tweet
— Stuart Guzowski (@studguzowski) January 21, 2022
Truth hurts.
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