Is Biden in a lose-lose situation with the economy?

[wbrocks67]

It certainly kind of feels like it.

Basically:

Biden talks about good the economy is --> voters say 'what do you mean?' I don't feel lit
Biden doesn't talk about good the economy is --> pundits, TV hosts, journalists say 'Biden is an idiot for not talking about how strong these numbers are!'

Yes, there is nuance to this and I think Biden is striking the tone he has to (the numbers are very good, but i do feel your pain, etc.) but feels like he's generally in a lose-lose with this.

I also have no doubt that if Trump were president right now, he would be touting the same numbers, and many pundits AND voters reactions would be quite different. (it's why I just know that if Trump gets re-elected and the general economic numbers are the same as they are right now, a ton of people will suddenly be totally fine with the economy and approve of it under Trump but not Biden)

[The Economy is Getting Worse]

He should campaign like Obama 2012. Acknowledge that the economy is bad and try explain how he is fixing it. Going up against Trump who has an economic record makes this strategy harder though.

[GAinDC]

This sort of encapsulates it:

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1790036441772253338

[Umengus]

This sort of encapsulates it:

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1790036441772253338

and, unfortunately for you, there are lots of "Chris myers" in the swing states, if you trust polls.

[GAinDC]

This sort of encapsulates it:

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1790036441772253338

and, unfortunately for you, there are lots of "Chris myers" in the swing states, if you trust polls.

what goes around comes around.

In 2-3 years, Chris Myers will probably be saying he misses Biden because he didn't think Trump would actually do all the unhinged things he said he was gonna do.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Of course not but there was mixed reports that everyone on SSDI was gonna receive a stimulus check and it's only for Seniors. We still have to vote and we just saw Biden +1 yesterday


Everyone knows it would be helpful if everyone received one more stimulus check but Spk Johnson not Pelosi is at the helm

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

Joe Biden literally said in the CNN interview just done that sure there’s inflation, but people have the money to spend! Um. What.

[wbrocks67]

Joe Biden literally said in the CNN interview just done that sure there’s inflation, but people have the money to spend! Um. What.

I mean, he's not wrong. The data bears that out. At this point, voters are straight up lying.

[Illiniwek]

This sort of encapsulates it:

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1790036441772253338

This country has lost its collective mind.

[GAinDC]

This sort of encapsulates it:

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1790036441772253338

This country has lost its collective mind.

I think that due to media (us vs. them) echo chambers and the popularity of nihilism and pessimism on social media, people are just predisposed to hate whoever is in power.

Remember, Trump had very middling approval ratings despite presiding over a period of prosperity and stability (pre-COVID). Same thing happened in Obama's second term.

It's only after they leave office that voters soften and look at their presidencies with rose colored glasses.

Right now, Biden is bearing the brunt, and because of his under-the-radar leadership style, his age, and the fact that he was more of a consensus candidate in 2020 with no rock-solid base, he's an even easier punching bag.

If Biden loses and fades from public view, people will be able to look at his record more fairly. He's gotten a lot done.

[kwabbit]

Joe Biden literally said in the CNN interview just done that sure there’s inflation, but people have the money to spend! Um. What.

I mean, he's not wrong. The data bears that out. At this point, voters are straight up lying.

That's not exactly true. Since the economy returned to full employment in Q3 2021, real wages have still declined. According to the Fed, a lot of the gains that were made in the last 1.5 years were erased by a poor Q1 2024. Personal savings rates have remained much below typical levels for the entirety of the Biden presidency.

Full employment and strong GDP growth are strengths in the economy that Biden can point to, but there is real evidence to support the median voter's "middle class but struggling to get by" view of the economy. No one is saying the economy is terrible, just mediocre.

[Ⓐnarchy in the ☭☭☭P!]

We've been going through stagflation for the better part of Biden's presidency. The idea that you could see multiple years of negative real wage growth combined with rising rates and an overpriced housing market as a "strong economy" is mystifying to me.

It isn't even a politically impossible challenge, he could have blamed it on that dastardly pro-oligarch Donald Trump and his toady Powell for keeping rates low and handing out money to the rich in 2020. If he said something like "the next years will be tough but we'll come out of this stronger than ever" then as long as 2024 was better than 2021 he'd have a message.

Instead it's "Biden 2024 - Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes!"

[OSR stands with Israel]

Joe Biden literally said in the CNN interview just done that sure there’s inflation, but people have the money to spend! Um. What.

I mean, he's not wrong. The data bears that out. At this point, voters are straight up lying.

This comment is perfectly reflective of why liberalism is viewed as out of touch.

[Arizona Iced Tea]

I posted about this yesterday, but essentially by not making it a key issue in 2020 he basically defaulted the issue's advantage to Trump.

One of the biggest mistakes Biden made in 2020 was not running on the economy. He ceded the entire lane to Trump, and while he won that election you are starting to see it hurt him now. Obama ran and won on the economy in 2008, so while it wasn't doing too hot in 2012 he was able to hold onto his talking points and hold off Romney quite a bit on it. Biden never even tried to make the economy part of his 2020 message so by default voters are going to prefer Trump on it. The economy doing poorly right now doesn't help him either, but he gave up his chance to win on the issue four years ago.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

I posted about this yesterday, but essentially by not making it a key issue in 2020 he basically defaulted the issue's advantage to Trump.

One of the biggest mistakes Biden made in 2020 was not running on the economy. He ceded the entire lane to Trump, and while he won that election you are starting to see it hurt him now. Obama ran and won on the economy in 2008, so while it wasn't doing too hot in 2012 he was able to hold onto his talking points and hold off Romney quite a bit on it. Biden never even tried to make the economy part of his 2020 message so by default voters are going to prefer Trump on it. The economy doing poorly right now doesn't help him either, but he gave up his chance to win on the issue four years ago.

He didn't default on Trump Trump gave tax cuts to the super rich and these polls don't mean anything unless they are replicated at the voting booth

I dislike it when Rs ignore the fact that large tax cuts given to rich is gonna make us better.

Do you know how many homeless people there are the homeless rate is double since the Pandemic because we stopped getting stimulus checks that Pelosi not Spk Johnson gave us

[President Johnson]

Joe Biden literally said in the CNN interview just done that sure there’s inflation, but people have the money to spend! Um. What.

I mean, he's not wrong. The data bears that out. At this point, voters are straight up lying.

This comment is perfectly reflective of why liberalism is viewed as out of touch.

Well, but citing valid data isn't out of touch. Facts and numbers don't care about feelings. What I wouldn't say is "look at our flipcharts, everything is great", because don't like to be told what they're supposed to feel. What Biden should do is acknowledge that while significant progress has been made (especially easing inflation that was a global trend in 2021-23), there's more to be done. And challenge Trump about what he would do other than another round of tax cuts for his Mar-A-Lago buddies.

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

I posted about this yesterday, but essentially by not making it a key issue in 2020 he basically defaulted the issue's advantage to Trump.

One of the biggest mistakes Biden made in 2020 was not running on the economy. He ceded the entire lane to Trump, and while he won that election you are starting to see it hurt him now. Obama ran and won on the economy in 2008, so while it wasn't doing too hot in 2012 he was able to hold onto his talking points and hold off Romney quite a bit on it. Biden never even tried to make the economy part of his 2020 message so by default voters are going to prefer Trump on it. The economy doing poorly right now doesn't help him either, but he gave up his chance to win on the issue four years ago.

He didn’t explicitly run on the economy in 2020, but it was a part of his message. Biden ran on the theme of “returning to normal”, which included solving the Covid issue and its effect on the economy. I think his message this year should thread the needle mentioned by ModernBourbon.

Something akin to “Things may not be perfect right now, but we’re moving in the right direction. America under Donald Trump was a mess of chaos and tax payoffs for the rich. When Obama-Biden gave him the keys, the American car was gassed up and driving smooth. He didn’t change the oil, never put air in the tires, and drove all the gas out of the car, then turned around and got us stuck in the mud with the Covid pandemic. I’m still digging us out of the pandemic mud that Trump let us drive into. We can’t give him back the keys to the car now!”

[Progressive Pessimist]

The American populace might be at its dumbest point in history.

We're going to need the best educated of us to save the country in November. Granted, they did so in 2022. I think it can happen again.