A grim portrait of Biden's unhappy America

Much of this catalog of woes is impossible to quantify. But everyone sees the strain and emotional toll in their friends and families of a once-in-a-100-year public health crisis. Even if average new daily cases are currently on their way down, the pandemic will bequeath trauma that will take years to heal.

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The psychological impact of the way America is feeling will be for history to describe. But it is having political consequences in real time.

A grungy mood in a nation divided in multiple ways is translating to ever-diminishing confidence in political leaders and the system itself. It also helps to explain why a summer economic spurt, a dip in inflation and more legislative success on Capitol Hill are unlikely to rescue Biden’s presidency.

“We have to keep it going. And I think our best days are ahead of us,” Biden said last month at an event highlighting a push to increase the semiconductor supply. But the President’s attempt to buck up the national psyche and his own political prospects rang rather hollow.

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