BTRTN: The Biden Agenda Meets a Confluence of New Crises
Born To Run The Numbers provides its review of the month of March, when Joe Biden remained focused and disciplined on his agenda even as his team faced new crises:
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2021/04/btrtn-biden-agenda-meets-confluence-of.html
Excerpts: "New presidents often have to manage the conflict between getting their “first 100 day” agendas accomplished versus dealing with the inevitable crisis du jour that competes for attention. Joe Biden faces something a bit different. His 100-day agenda – principally to tame COVID and restore the economy -- is in itself a response to a ongoing mega-crisis. Not since FDR has a new president truly faced such a trauma-stricken nation. But in March, a whole new set of crises emerged that threatened to divert Biden from his intended course...
"Biden has resolutely – in a shockingly disciplined way – focused first on his American Rescue Plan, which was passed in mid-month, and now has moved on to his infrastructure package (which is actually about far more than fixing highways and bridges). But he is being pulled massively -- from all sides – due to eruptions on immigration (driven by a vast migrant influx at the Mexican border), gun control (two mass killings within a single week) and voting rights (a wildly restrictive law passed in Georgia). And as the month ended, America was holding its breath, watching the Derek Chauvin/George Floyd murder trial unfold, sickened by both the weight of the testimony and the prospect of an acquittal...
"Biden has been rewarded for his overall efforts to battle the pandemic, scoring a 60% approval rating on his handling of COVID, well above that of Trump, who languished in the low 40% range. Clearly Biden is winning that middle 20% of the nation that is less partisan – indeed, less interested in politics in general – and more interested in outcomes..."