Filenews 16 January 2022 - by Panicos Panayiotou, New York
One year is completed next Thursday, January 20, by the swearing-in of the 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden. In the first few weeks of his Presidency, nearly 60% of Americans supported his policy, and now he has the lowest score of any president in the country's modern history, at this point in his tenure, except for Donald Trump. His average acceptance score is stable at 42 to 43%, while his predecessor's was 41% from 2017-2021.
Biden's popularity doesn't seem to be improving, for now. The reasons for the negative image are considered to be several and concern not only the war he receives from the "Trump camp", but also: the stalemate in the negotiations on the "Build Back Better" bill, the "failed", as it is characterized, so far, management of the migration issue, the "shameful" exit from Afghanistan, the rising inflation and, of course, the increasingly dangerous divisive climate prevailing in American society.
Joe Biden had argued pre-election that the Trump Republican administration has failed to manage the pandemic, but it seems that in some areas of how to deal with it, his own democratic administration has not fared well. The current occupant of the White House had promised last spring that at the celebration of American Independence on July 4, 2021 there would be a "different landscape" on the pandemic front, but apparently did not calculate the upcoming mutations of the virus, in relation to the fact that tens of millions of people, mostly supporters of the former president, insisted on conspiracy theories, refusing to be vaccinated.
In several analyses it is pointed out that, having overcome many losses in his life and bouncing from so many reversals, his most representative characteristic is the refusal to accept defeat in the face of problems that are considered "insurmountable". At the same time, encouraging data are also emerging that give new dynamics and prospects to his Presidency, such as: more than 70% of American adults are now vaccinated, in the coming weeks coronavirus patients will have at their disposal two new promising treatments, unemployment is falling, the economy has gradually begun to recover and stock markets are reaching record highs, at more regular intervals.
Also, President Biden managed to pass a $1.9 trillion bailout plan to help families and small and medium-sized businesses, helping significantly address poverty in America, as well as a bipartisan infrastructure bill, with more than a trillion dollars in new spending. If it finally manages to get the Social Reform and Climate Bill approved by the Senate, it is estimated that its acceptance rate will increase. However, time is pressing tightly, as next November there will be midterm elections for the 435 seats in the House of Representatives, as well as about a third of the 100 senate seats. Currently, Democrats hold 221 seats in the House and Republicans 212, while two remain vacant. In the Senate, the Democrats have 48 seats, the Republicans 50 and 2 are independent (they vote with the Democrats). Because the country's vice-president also acts as president of the Senate, she has an extra vote when there is a tie.
Therefore, with Kamala Harris' vote, democrats retain a majority in both chambers of law, but have failed to reach an intra-party deal after the negative stance of Democratic senator from West Virginia, Joe Manchin, whom the American leader is trying to convince to find an "interim compromise." Just as a "compromise route" was found in the House for the approval of the aforementioned bill, it may eventually be found in the Senate. But there is also strong opposition from the so-called "left wing" of Democrats in Congress, because he claims that so far he has made enough concessions to make it easier for President Biden to realize his aspirations, but he will do nothing more than Senator Manchin's demands.
2022 midterm elections
Usually, the party in the White House loses seats in the midterm elections. Most analysts argue that in order for Democrats to have hope of not losing control of the House and Senate or one of the two houses of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections in November, in addition to the need to find a formula for approving the much-debated bill later this month, they should also emerge, at least until the summer, positive developments in the face of the pandemic, for the control of inflation and more generally for the significant improvement of economic activity.
In addition, there is another issue concerning the legitimacy of the electoral processes and the visible threat to the Republic following last year's invasion of the Capitol by supporters of then-President Trump. In recent days, the reaction of Democrats to issues related to the electoral process has intensified. Even President Biden spoke of Republicans' "methodical efforts" to make it difficult for citizens belonging to minorities (African-American and Hispanic communities) to participate, especially in some key states, placing party officials and mostly fanatical supporters of Donald Trump in the voting counting mechanisms.
