After last Tuesday's results, there are some who think Democrats must change what they are trying to do -- retreat. That would be a serious mistake. They need to do just the opposite. They need to continue the fight against COVID-19 and defeat it -- and they need to pass legislation to help working Americans (Build Back Better Bill). The voters want to see a party that will fight for them, not one that timidly folds in tough times.
Here's part of how Nobel Prize economist Paul Krugman puts it in The New York Times:
Where Democrats have a clear path forward is on the closely related issues of Covid-19 and the economy. What’s crucial is that Democrats not take the election setbacks as an indication that they’ve overreached — that President Biden should back down on vaccine mandates, that their economic agenda is too left-wing. What the public perceives isn’t a party doing too much, but a party doing too little, and Biden and his allies need to end that sense of drift.
There’s no evidence of a significant voter backlash against Biden’s social spending proposals. . . .
The problem, however, is that Congress still hasn’t passed anything. Politics junkies may be following the twists and turns of negotiations between progressives, who have given up a huge amount of ground, and pro-corporate Democrats, mainly Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema. But all the broader public knows is that no bill has been approved; the impression most people have is that Democrats aren’t getting anything done. . . .
Why are consumers unhappy? Jobs are readily available; workers are quitting at record rates, which means they’re confident about finding new employment. But people are upset about rising prices and, to some extent, supply-chain issues — although fears of empty store shelves appear to have been exaggerated. . . .
So what can the Biden administration and its allies do to improve public perceptions of the economy?
Much of what’s distressing the public is beyond U.S. policymakers’ control, even though voters tend to blame whoever is in the White House. Gasoline prices, for example, have risen because of developments on world markets, not anything happening here. The same goes for food prices. And supply-chain problems, mainly reflecting a scramble to buy durable goods at a time when people are afraid to consume in-person services, are hitting many countries. . . .
Early indications, including claims for unemployment benefits and surveys of purchasing managers, suggest that a renewed economic surge is already underway. And as consumers start to feel safer, they may also shift demand away from stuff to services, which would ease some of the supply-chain pressures
So the way forward for Democrats seems fairly obvious.
First, pass something. It doesn’t have to be perfect; in particular, given incredibly low borrowing costs, it doesn’t matter whether the proposed sources of revenue will fully pay for the new spending. What’s crucial for the politics right now is that something significant gets passed and that Biden then goes out and sells it.
Second, control Covid. The evidence is now overwhelming that vaccine mandates work and that threats of mass resignations if workers are required to get shots are mostly empty. When confronted with the prospect of actually losing a job, a great majority of workers comply. . . .
Will Democrats be able to turn their fortunes around if they push forward on their agenda and hang tough on vaccines? I don’t know. But they’ll certainly fail if they respond to Tuesday’s setbacks by curling up into a defensive ball.
