It sounded tough, but in the end, Schumer backed down. New Year’s came and went with no Senate vote on Build Back Better. There still hasn’t been one, nor will there be one in the weeks and months ahead. As that became painfully clear, Schumer turned his attention to trying to use parliamentary maneuvers to push through a Democratic voting procedures bill and failed at that, too. The reason: Sorry to be a broken record, but Democrats do not control a majority of seats in the Senate.

Then came Manchin’s pronouncement Sunday. Build Back Better is over, and with it the “centerpiece” of the Biden agenda.

Now, it is an election year, and the president has resolved to travel the country trying to convince people that he has already done great things for them. “I’m going to get out of this place more often,” Biden said at his Jan. 19 news conference, referring to the White House and Washington. “I’m going to go out and talk to the public. I’m going to do public fora. I’m going to interface with them. I’m going to make the case of what we’ve already done, why it’s important, and what we’ll do if — what will happen if they support what else I want to do.”

When a politician, stymied by Congress, says he is going to go to the public and emphasize what he has accomplished, that’s a pretty good sign he won’t be getting anything more done.