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The White House seems to be having just a wee bit too much fun with the whole "Dark Brandon" meme. Because they actually set the stage for it last night, in Philadelphia.
President Joe Biden came out fighting tonight, delivering a speech titled: "The Continued Battle For The Soul Of Our Nation" in front of Philadelphia's Independence Hall. The location, obviously, was appropriate for such a weighty subject. The speech was without doubt the most forceful address Biden has given while president, and indeed harkened back to his days on the campaign trail. This was all part of the design of it, as it was given just in advance of the traditional midterm campaign season's start, Labor Day. It was seen by most as the campaign's unofficial kickoff.
Donald Trump's political obituary has been written so many times it is now somewhat of a running joke. "Trump Surely Must Be Toast This Time" is a headline that just keeps on giving, because each and every time the answer turns out to be: "Nope, false alarm, his followers are unfazed." This time, however, what's notable is that the "Trump's Done!" stories seem to be coming more and more from his own diehard supporters in the rightwing media echo chamber. The knee-jerk echoes are dying down, to stretch the metaphor, no matter how loudly Trump shouts.
Even though it is a Monday, I find myself in an optimistic mood. Maybe it's just the end of the political Silly Season, but I found myself wondering what would happen if the Democrats truly ran the tables in the midterms and wound up still in control of the House of Representatives and with at least 52 senators in the Senate (so Kyrsten Sinema and Joe Manchin could be politely told to go fly a kite by Chuck Schumer and the rest of the Democrats). What could they get done? What would their agenda look like, with a Democrat in the White House ready to sign whatever passed? I know, I know, it is still the longest of longshots -- Democrats will likely still lose the House even if they manage to expand their majority in the Senate -- but like I said, I'm feeling optimistic, so let's just assume it does somehow come to pass.
President Joe Biden keeps coming out with summer hit after summer hit. This week, he forgave up to $20,000 in student loan debt for 43 million Americans. That's a big win, even if some are desperately trying to convince parents across the country that it's somehow a bad thing that their son or daughter just had their student debt wiped out. Good luck with that, guys. Most Americans see this as a huge relief, even if they don't personally benefit. And most Americans see Republicans complaining about it as being seriously out of touch.
This year's traditional "Silly Season" in politics has been, for the most part, decidedly unsilly. First there was a burst of legislative action, followed by a few bursts of executive action, and the midterm election primaries have been a lot more interesting than usual this August. Plus, there's the Trump Circus, which always seems to be in town. All of this has added up to me not being able to write any fun Silly Season articles. Until now, that is. You have been warned.
The wind is now at the Democrats' backs. The "red wave" everyone's been predicting for November may turn out to be no more than a pinkish ripple... or perhaps it won't even occur at all. Of course, we're still more than two months away from the election, and unexpected events could intervene, but right now everything seems to be moving in the Democrats' direction.
President Joe Biden has always been a rather reluctant reformer of higher education, which is somewhat odd considering his wife works as a community college teacher. For example, during the 2020 Democratic primary race progressives such as Bernie Sanders were arguing for tuition-free college at all state-run colleges and universities. Biden was far more restrained, and said he favored only tuition-free college for two years of community college, which would have left out state university students entirely. The tuition-free community college idea was later included in Biden's Build Back Better plan, but that was before it hit the brick wall named "Joe Manchin." The concept didn't survive in the limited Inflation Reduction Act at all. Also during the primary campaign, the progressives were pushing for either outright cancellation of all student debt or forgiving at least $50,000 of debt per student. Biden was never on board with such sweeping proposals, and countered with his own idea of perhaps forgiving $10,000 in student debt. Which is what might just get announced tomorrow.
There's a special House election happening tomorrow in upstate New York that many are closely watching as a possible indicator of the strength of the abortion issue in the 2022 campaign season. The Supreme Court's Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, has shifted the political landscape for the midterms, but nobody really knows to what extent this shift will manifest itself. The New York special election is going to be a test of this.
President Joe Biden had a very good week the previous week, and he followed that up with another good week this week as well. A bill which is going to become one of the signature pieces of his presidential legacy passed the House last Friday, and on Tuesday Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act into law. Perhaps we should call it "Biden's Obamacare," because it really is just as impressive a piece of legislation.