Joe Biden is equally qualified to be president now as he was two months ago. His staff is as capable, if not more so.
But all of a sudden, pictures of Biden as a frail septuagenarian sitting atop a poorly run White House have been replaced by pictures of an experienced leader grinning behind aviator sunglasses, whose team has successfully accomplished a number of national initiatives. That's what a winning streak does for you.Although at his lowest times allies wanted him to perform those ritual actions, it has not happened as a result of a change in strategy or personnel. A president and Democratic Party willing to act unilaterally where Republicans wouldn't and reach concessions when Republicans would have done so have succeeded thanks to a combination of good fortune, competence, and determination.
Gas prices have fallen for two months now after Biden was injured when they rose. Neither movement was the result of the President. However, the good fortune has lessened some of the inflationary pressures, which continue to be his biggest political issue.
Weather conditions allowed a CIA drone to murder Ayman al-Zawahiri, the leader of al Qaeda, on the balcony of his Kabul residence late last month. The targeted attack, for which preparations started this past spring, supported Biden's claims that the US could combat terrorism in Afghanistan even without ground soldiers.
Biden has shown his critics in Congress that they were mistaken in both directions. Before the play ended, politicians and commentators had already penned their analyses on a failed legislative agenda.
Bipartisan investments in infrastructure, domestic semiconductor production, and veterans' health care have been made by Congress, despite the scoffing of progressive politicians by the former senator's comments about cooperating with the GOP. To pass them, they united a sufficient number of Republicans.
Others who claimed Biden had erred too far to the left have witnessed Congress take the most significant government actions to slow global warming. No Republican cast a yes vote. Each and every Democrat did.
Because of this, Biden is not a contemporary of LBJ or FDR. Even while he has made it stronger, he cannot lay claim to a single monument to stand in opposition to Social Security, Medicare, or even the Affordable Care Act.
Investments to increase economic opportunity through paid leave, universal pre-kindergarten, child care, and child tax credits have failed. His plea for the banning of assault weapons was not heeded by the bipartisan gun safety measure that put a stop to years of congressional gridlock. At a time when Republican radicalism is threatening democracy and the rule of law, he has not succeeded in passing legislation to protect voting rights.
The main restriction has been imposed by partisan mathematics. Democrats can only withstand a few defections in the House and none in the Senate to act alone on the few top priorities protected from Republican filibuster. Only because Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia finally agreed to work with his party's members after months of rejection did the climate package pass.
The accomplishments of Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer are all the more impressive because of the legislative tightrope they had to walk. It obscures their influence on American life to refer to them as "wins" on the political scoreboard, as though governing were a competition.
The 2021 infrastructure law, which Biden's two immediate predecessors failed to pass, will result in $550 billion in new federal investments in infrastructure projects like roads, bridges, airports, public transportation, railroads, rural broadband, clean water, and electric vehicle charging stations, among other things.
The semiconductor measure allocates more than $52 billion to encourage domestic production of essential components for goods ranging from computers to vehicles, lowering America's reliance on imports.
Millions of veterans who were exposed to chemicals while serving will now be eligible for additional health care and disability payments thanks to the so-called "burn pits" bill.
The Inflation Reduction Act limits the amount of out-of-pocket spending on prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries to $2,000 per year and $35 per month for insulin, despite the fact that it will have little effect on inflation this year. The name was chosen to entice Manchin. Medicare now has the power to pressure pharmaceutical corporations into lowering their pricing.
Analysts estimate that the IRA's $370 billion commitment to clean energy development and combating climate change will enable the US to reduce carbon emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030. In a time when extreme weather events bring the threats to the world into sharp view more frequently, it upholds American leadership.
Biden's dismal public image has started to marginally improve. Anger at the conservative Supreme Court's ruling to end the constitutional right to abortion has helped Democrats on the 2022 ballot gain more support.
However, that does not imply that voters will reward them in the upcoming midterm elections. Republicans just need a four-seat net gain to take back control of the House, far less than the historical norm for the party not in power.
Additionally, it does not imply that Biden will follow in the footsteps of Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama in overcoming early losses to secure a second term. Biden, 79, has the appearance of becoming the oldest president in American history as restless younger Democrats yearn for new leadership.
But it does imply that the President and his party have taken advantage of the chance that having governmental authority has provided them for these two years. They've accomplished a lot of what they set out to do when running for office.
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