The economy, in a precarious moment post-pandemic, is critical to President Joe Biden‘s administration and reelection campaign.
But as Biden and the White House embrace so-called Bidenomics, decades after former President Barack Obama did the same with Obamacare, Republicans are hoping they can undermine the president regarding the economy as he starts to campaign on his record.
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Polling indicates a “broad majority” of the public considers their top priorities to be the economy and protecting democracy, according to Democratic strategist Karen Finney.
“With 8 in 10 Americans supporting Roe v. Wade, we should expect to see the president and vice president continuing to talk about the economic progress we’ve made over the last three years, as well as a number of other key issues, including protecting democracy, reproductive freedom, climate change, and protecting our families and communities from gun violence,” Finney told the Washington Examiner. “It’s also highly likely that, as we saw in the midterms, conservatives will underestimate the power of reproductive freedom, the strength of the Biden-Harris economic message, and concerns about democracy.”
Democratic pollster Celinda Lake added, “[The] economy and abortion will be two biggest issues.”
Biden, whose first in-person campaign stop aside from fundraisers was an appearance this week at the League of Conservation Voters’ annual Capital Dinner, will be in Philadelphia on Saturday for his first rally, a union-hosted event during which he is anticipated to address the economy, in addition to the AFL-CIO and 17 unions endorsing his candidacy.
“Joe Biden ran for president four years ago because he knows the way to grow the economy is to grow the middle class, and that starts with strong unions and labor representation,” campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said. “With the early support from the labor movement, our campaign can tap into organized labor’s incomparable organizing abilities, which allows us to reach deep into communities and talk to voters about the tens of thousands of good-paying union jobs created by President Biden’s first-term agenda.”
The rally coincides with this week’s release of May’s inflation report, with the Labor Department‘s Bureau of Labor Statistics finding consumer prices rose by 4% during the past year. That annual rate falls short of the Federal Reserve‘s desired 2% rate, but it represents the slowest increase in more than two years as last month’s producer price index decreased to 1.1%, per the Commerce Department. Although the number of last month’s unemployment claims was the highest since October 2021, the economy added another 339,000 jobs.
But Republicans are criticizing Bidenomics amid so-called Bidenflation and pandemic-era federal spending. Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, for example, amplified that criticism Friday in response to the Labor Department’s state jobs report and in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
“Under Joe Biden, Pennsylvanians’ savings are down, incomes are down, economic confidence is down, and criminal activity is up,” she said. “His presence on the campaign trail will only remind voters that his failed agenda has caused suffering for American families.”
Those points appear to be resonating with the public. Biden’s overall average job approval may be net negative 14 percentage points, but his average economic counterpart is net negative 21 points and net negative 33 points for inflation, according to RealClearPolitics. Simultaneously, an average of 23% of respondents agree the country is heading in the right direction, while 65% disagree.
Regardless, Biden has been reclaiming Bidenomics, most notably last week during his joint press conference with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the White House, convened the same day his Wall Street Journal op-ed was published alongside critiques of his economic policies.
“I’m sure there is someone here from the Wall Street Journal and other publications that are talking about Bidenomics,” Biden said. “The measure of what we used to call in the United States trickle-down economics, where if the trickle-down economics resulted — in Democratic and Republican administrations for generations — in making sure we found the cheapest labor in the world, sent the product to — sent the work to that neighbor or those neighbors who have the cheapest labor, and they send back their products.”
“Well, I’m not doing that anymore,” he added. “We’re going to make sure that we, in fact, have a flip of that. We’re sending capacity — here in the United States, we’re attracting capacity to build here in the United States to send product overseas, not the reverse.”
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In the op-ed, Biden underlined the Democrats-only Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, CHIPS and Science Act, and Fiscal Responsibility Act, the last of which avoided a default.
“Our economic recovery has been the strongest of any major economy. My goal now is to protect and build on this progress,” he wrote. “We will also continue to push for tax reforms that reduce the deficit by closing loopholes and raising revenue from wealthy Americans and the largest corporations, while giving families with children and low-income Americans more breathing room.”
