Democrats are walking a tightrope in characterizing their ties to Biden, which might seem counterintuitive considering the streak of legislative victories that have won the president a slew of positive headlines and helped his approval rating to start ticking back up.
The dynamic points to friction between Biden’s interests and those of fellow Democrats: He wants to show that he’s no longer politically toxic, and they’re worried it might be too soon to take that step. The strained relationships are on display as Biden plans to tour the country, with an emphasis on battleground states, for a victory lap after recent accomplishments, including passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, which is designed to lower the cost of prescription drugs and spend heavily on efforts to combat climate change, as well as an executive action to cancel some federal student loan debt.
“Nobody’s unhappy that Biden got some things done and that inflation seems to be easing a little bit, and maybe he’s not as dead in the water as it seemed six or eight months ago,” said Wisconsin-based pollster and strategist Paul Maslin. “But let’s not kid ourselves: This is still a country where almost 80% of the people think that things are headed on the wrong track.”
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