Usually, the final month of a midterm election is a hectic one for the president of the United States.
Barack Obama, for instance, made 22 campaign-related trips in October 2010 in a futile effort to stem losses in his first midterm election — Democrats lost 63 House seats and control of the chamber.
President Joe Biden, in comparison, made just eight last month and has little on his schedule for the final week of campaigning. The problem: Next to nobody wants Biden or Vice President Kamala Harris to appear on stage with them.
“Of the 14 states with some of the most competitive Senate and governor races, based on ratings from the Cook Political Report, Biden has visited six since Sept. 1, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis,” the Daily Mail reported this week. Biden hasn’t bothered to make stops in Arizona, Nevada, or Georgia. He also is not expected to make additional visits to Wisconsin or Michigan, either.
Of course, there’s an obvious reason why: Inflation is soaring and Americans — more than six in ten of whom are living paycheck to paycheck — are just trying to figure out how they’re going to make it until the next payday. They overwhelmingly blame Biden for the shredded economy, and according to nearly every poll, they’re about to take it out big time on Biden’s Democratic Party.
And just take a look at the Toxic Duo’s schedule this week. Biden will travel to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, in a last-ditch effort to save Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist, who appears beyond salvation, with the Real Clear Politics (RCP) average of all polls giving him a 12.3-point disadvantage.
He’ll then head to another event to hype Democrat Val Demings, who trails Sen. Marco Rubio in the RCP average by eight points.
On Wednesday, Biden “will deliver remarks on protecting Social Security and Medicare and lowering prescription drug costs” at the White House, according to his official schedule. As desperate Democrats often do when they’re trailing badly, they hit the “Mediscare” button, alleging (falsely) that Republicans will gut the social programs.
On Thursday, Biden will travel to New Mexico for a variety of appearances, including an event with Democrat Governor Lujan Grisham. And he doesn’t even have a trip scheduled on Friday when he often cuts the day short and helos to his Delaware beach house.
Harris’ schedule is even worse. She’s heading to Boston on Wednesday “to highlight the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to lowering costs for working American families, creating jobs, and combatting the climate crisis,” her schedule said.
Yeah, climate doesn’t even make the top ten issues Americans care about, and Massachusetts isn’t exactly a swing battleground state. She’ll also deliver her boring endorsement speech later in the day for gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey, who the RCP average says leads the Republican candidate by a whopping 25.5 points.
On Thursday, she’ll hit New York City (which is already heavily liberal) to campaign for Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY). And on Sunday she’ll go to Illinois (another liberal bastion) to deliver remarks at an AAPI event (that’s so boring we’re not even going to look up what AAPI stands for).
Democrats have tried to frame Campaign ’22 on issues like Social Security and abortion, but as Bill Clinton’s campaign manager declared in 1992, “it’s the economy, stupid.”
“The problem this cycle, in terms of where we are today and where we are headed, is that it’s not clear what is safe anymore,” Democratic strategist Chris Kofinis told the Journal. “I’m not surprised he’s not going to Arizona or Nevada. The question is—is he helping or hurting in Pennsylvania or New York? That part is not clear. I don’t see many candidates clamoring for him to come.”
That’s cuz they’re not.
The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Joseph Curl has covered politics for 35 years, including 12 years as White House correspondent for a national newspaper. He was also the a.m. editor of the Drudge Report for four years. Send tips to [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @josephcurl.
