Near Pittsburgh, a $857 million upgrade is being made to the Montgomery Locks and Dam so that larger cargo ships may navigate the Upper Ohio River.
A white sign posted on the grassy shoulder of the road reads, “Project funded by President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.”
For Biden, claiming credit for the strengthening economy is a political necessity that will impact his chances of being reelected for a second term next year. This includes taking credit for the jobs and growth that were made possible by the trillion-dollar public works law. While Democrats are celebrating the recent uptick in economic indicators, they recognise that Vice President Biden will not profit politically from it unless voters begin to identify him with the improvements.
The White House office in charge of infrastructure signage estimates that hundreds of thousands of signs will be erected in the coming years to celebrate the success of infrastructure projects made possible by the 2021 law. The similar sign can be seen near the Wisconsin road construction site and the Arizona border. There are always indicators of labour, even if they are hidden. A sign in the middle of a vast Montanan field proclaims the land to be a Superfund site that is now undergoing cleanup as a result of the law.
Everything is now under the umbrella name “Bidenomics,” which the White House has embraced in order to claim credit for the improved economy before the 2024 election.
It is frustrating for the White House and its Democratic supporters that, despite the recovery, surveys show widespread dislike of how Vice President Biden has managed the economy. Despite falling inflation, increasing salaries, robust hiring, and diminishing fears of a recession, many Americans remain negative about the economy and place responsibility on the president.
“It’s understandable that Americans’ perception of the economy operates with somewhat of a lag to real economic data,” said Brian Deese, who was the director of Biden’s National Economic Council up until February. “The recent improvement in consumer confidence is encouraging. If we keep making improvements in that area, I think the public will begin to notice it in the form of higher approval ratings.
Negative views about the economy held by the American public have made little headway. According to a new AWN poll issued on Thursday, over half of Americans believe the economy is still in a downturn and going worse. The percentage of people who think Biden is doing a good job with the economy has been relatively constant at 37% since the autumn.
Despite better-than-expected economic growth and experts from the Federal Reserve to Goldman Sachs to Bank of America now stating a recession is no longer anticipated in the next year, the AWN poll found that three-quarters of Americans view current economic conditions as unsatisfactory.
However, voters care about more than simply their wallets. There is still concern among voters about Biden’s age, according to polls. Among Democrats, support for a second Biden term is low. Years of political and economic uncertainty have also had a negative impact on the national mood.
People are in a foul attitude after Covid. “There’s a level of PTSD, a certain level of depression, and they’re just not very convinced or optimistic about anything,” a Democratic strategist said. It has nothing to do with Joe Biden. It’s a product of the times we live in.”
Despite coming in somewhat lower than forecast, the government reported on Friday that the economy added 187,000 jobs in July. The unemployment rate was 3.5%, according to the study, which is very close to a record low.
The employment report follows other recent indicators of economic health. To the surprise of economists, the economy grew at a rate of 2.4% from April through June, according to official data released only last week.
The University of Michigan’s index of consumer sentiment increased by 13% in July, marking the second consecutive month of growth. Moreover, pay increases have outpaced inflation recently.
It will take time for the American people to feel the effects of a stronger economy and for the public to link Biden with those advances, according to White House officials. But they notice positive trends in recent statistics.
A senior administration official has stated, “We’re finally getting the kind of clouds-clearing that we need for people to actually hear that message and see what we’re doing.” I believe that it is always difficult to communicate in today’s times due to the fragmented nature of the media landscape. And that’s why we need to keep saying it over and over again.
As the economy shows signs of improvement, Biden said last week in Maine that Republicans are seeking elsewhere for attack lines, including probes into his family.
Now that inflation is down, the Republicans may have to find something else to criticise me for. He made this statement in an Auburn textile mill with “Bidenomics: Made in America” placards lining the walls behind him.
The truth behind the Democratic punchline is that in today’s hyper-partisan environment, not even a dramatic improvement in the economy is guaranteed to change voters’ minds. According to a study conducted by AWN in July, seventy percent of Democrats backed Biden’s management of the economy while only five percent of Republicans did. While Democrats’ confidence seems to be on the rise, Republican respondents remain overwhelmingly gloomy.
A former high-ranking administration official has observed, “There is a tough set of questions around, ‘Are there structural factors at play that will make it more difficult for POTUS to convince voters that the gains are under his stewardship?'”
Advisors to Vice President Biden feel that branding the president’s economic accomplishments has been working, albeit slowly, to influence perceptions of his record. Biden’s economic popularity, though, remains low, so the campaign that began with his giving platform speeches at shipyards, factories and plants early this summer will continue into the fall.
This week, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Obama, and other top administration officials began a tour of the western United States to promote recent legislative victories and positive economic data. The president will make stops in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah the following week.
The government has relied on members of the Cabinet to spread its message thus far. Another former official, though, suggested that Biden take a cue from President Barack Obama and use private-sector CEOs to boost confidence in the economy.
A former administration official stated, “The Biden surrogate playbook doesn’t exist,” and went on to propose that CEOs from the manufacturing, clean energy, and semiconductor industries would be excellent advocates for Biden’s policies and the investments they have prompted.
At a similar period in his first term, Obama was also met with pessimistic assessments of the economy, but the real numbers were considerably worse. In August 2011, when the unemployment rate was 9.1% and the economy created no new jobs, only 26% of Americans approved of the way he was handling the economy.
The next year, he was re-elected with a large margin of victory.
The Democratic strategist said, “Biden has that story on steroids,” referring to Obama’s need to convince voters that he did not start off with a perfect record and that he accomplished much to repair the economy from a bad position. As one commenter put it, “He has a story about turning around the economy no president has.”
There is still time for the story to shift, momentum to slow, or new threats to emerge, according to White House staffers and advisers.
Another current high-ranking administration source added, “The bottom line is, we don’t have a history of looking at economic cycles that follow global pandemics, that follow major shocks to our supply chains and energy markets due to geopolitical forces.” “This economic cycle is very different from others.”
The Biden administration’s key priority with 15 months until Election Day is maintaining momentum and communicating effectively.
One former high-ranking official in the administration added, “I think they’re pretty comfortable playing the long-ish game on this.” They are thinking ahead to the next year and wondering, “Where will we be then?”