Biden's flagging economy: Despite warning signs following excessive federal government pandemic-era spending, a recession never materialized. Inflation has been partly tamed (though at the cost of rate hikes by the Federal Reserve). The jobless rate is good, wage growth is decent, and yet still, voters just don't feel like the economy has improved much for them. People who want to buy houses that better fit their needs feel locked into place by the previous era of low interest rates, and they can't afford new places due to the high interest rates that will most likely stick around for a while. Groceries are expensive. Car and home insurance prices have skyrocketed.

What's an incumbent president to do, when running for reelection, if voters are dissatisfied with the economy he's presided over?

Well, if you're Joe Biden, the answer looks a little bit like: distract voters by cracking down on immigration.

Back in February, Gallup reported that immigration had surged to the top spot on voters' lists of priorities for the first time in five years. Meanwhile, Pew Research Center data from the same rough time period conflicts with that finding a bit, ranking the economy as voters' top priority (with the border crisis not far behind it). It's not a stretch to say Biden is worried about his polling numbers and isn't sure how to bring the economic relief to which voters might respond positively (nor on the timeline required to get his credit at the ballot box).