Thursday, September 07, 2023
Political Mayhem Thursday: Biden's popularity problem
In yesterday's New York Times, Bret Stephens made a pretty good case for why President Biden is largely unpopular despite lots of good news about the nation.
In short, he argues that the following seem to be very positive:
1) Inflation is down
2) Violent crime is down
3) The war in Ukraine has hurt Russia but not the US
And yet
1) Inflation measures don't take into account the prices of food and gas-- the two things that everyone buys, and which working people spend much of their income on. The prices they care about most are going up.
2) News accounts of terrible crimes mask actual crime rates-- people assume crime is up if it is being reported in gruesome detail.
3) What happens in Ukraine does not much affect Americans in any direct way.
So what can Biden do?
