THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: Biden Pulling Back?

 

After months of executive orders. legislative proposals, policy

announcements — most of which were designed to reverse

his predecessor’s actions or to introduce new programs,

President Joe Biden, facing significantly negative polls and

rapidly sinking popularity, has begun to pull back.

The Biden administration has reversed itself in two key areas

in recent days, including the Remain In Mexico program of the 

Trump administration, and seeking the help of the oil and gas

industry in keeping recently rising energy prices down.

The successful Remain in Mexico agreement called for returning

apprehended undocumented immigrants to Mexico until they

either decided to return to their home country or could be

properly processed for legal immigration to the U.S, By the end 

of 2020, it had noticeably reduced illegal Mexican border crossings.

President Biden, who as a candidate had advocated “open 

borders,” ended the program after taking  office, replacing it with  

a “catch and release” policy which brought larger numbers of 

undocumented and unvaccinated immigrants to the U.S., chaotic

conditions at the border, and widespread protests  throughout

the southeastern states..

A federal court ruled that the Biden action was illegal, and

restored the Trump program, and the Biden administration has

said it will comply with the court order next month. (Mexico,

however, concerned by the sudden surge has indicated it might

want to renegotiate the agreement.)

President Biden, also as a candidate, said he opposed fracking

and for less usage of fossil fuels. On taking office, he took actions

to advance these views, but  the result has been a large increase

in the price of gasoline and the prospect of oil and gas shortages

in the coming winter months. President Trump had promoted

policies supporting fracking, new pipelines and increased drilling

that made the U.S. energy independent.

Facing a consumer and voter revolt over sharply higher prices and

shortages, President Biden has now reached out  to oil and gas

industry leaders to help with this energy crisis. His and fellow

Democrats harshly anti-coal views have also turned away union

and working class voters in Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia 

and neighboring states — and polls now show  clear majorities

of Hispanics, independents and suburban voters now oppose his

policies.

It is unclear what concessions Biden might make to induce the

oil, gas and coal industries to cooperate.

Whether by court order or political necessity, more Biden

administration reversals could occur  in coming months as winter

and the 2022 national  midterm elections approach — and the loss

of control  of one or both houses of Congress becomes likely

and imminent.

If not, the red wave in 2022 could be a very large one.

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Copyright (c) 2021 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.            

THE PRAIRIE EDITOR: "Pandemigration" And Other Issues In 2022

Democratic political demoralization in advance of the 2022

national midterm elections continues with the retirement

announcement of U.S. House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth

of Kentucky, This follows retirements of other senior U.S.

house Democrats in Texas, Wisconsin, Illinois and Arizona 

who might have been defeated in a potential “red wave” 

election next year.

Three senior Republicans have also announced their 

retirements, but they represent safe GOP districts.

In 2017-18, this phenomenon was reversed as many 

endangered senior Republicans retired in advance of the

“blue wave” 2018 national mid-term elections which gave

Democrats control of the U.S. house.

The political pessimism of the Democrats is apparently

being fueled by voter response to President Joe Biden and

many of the unpopular policies and proposals of his

administration. The disastrous way the U.S. withdrew from

Afghanistan and the ongoing Mexican border crisis have

evidently fueled the president’s precipitous personal drop

in the polls, but inflation worries and (according to polls)

unpopular proposals (such as defunding the police and

packing the U.S. supreme court) are reinforcing a mood of

vulnerability among many incumbent Democrats.

The border crisis, particularly, is creating prospects of

increasing negative reactions from voters in coming 

months as tens of thousands of would-be undocumented

immigrants are reportedly making their way in caravans

to the Mexican-U.S. border where already record numbers

of emigrants have massed in trying to enter the U.S. This

“pandemigration” has been encouraged by some voices

on the U.S. political left, following a controversial 

pandemigration in western Europe, (and its rejection in

parts of eastern Europe).

Less immediate,, but looming in coming months, is a 

serious supply chain crisis — brought on, critics say, by

Biden administration economic policies.

The Democratic political demoralization is beginning to

spill over into the key battle for control of the U.S. senate

in 2022 —- where Democrats are seeing their initial

advantage to attain a majority fade as independent and

suburban voters, according to recent polls, increasingly

are seemingly turning to GOP candidates.

Not all the news is bad for the Democrats. The post-

pandemic economy is slowly recovering, the stock market

remains high, interest rates remain low, and the natural

optimism of most Americans still prevails. The election is

still slightly more than a year away. The  Afghan debacle

will fade in voter memory.

But new and ongoing crises, especially economic ones,

are provoking veteran elected officials now to evaluate

their re-election prospects — and so far, the decisions 

have been ominous, particularly in U.S. house races, for

the  Democrats.

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Copyright (c) 2021 by Barry Casselman. All rights reserved.