President Joe Biden is touting his recently signed Inflation Reduction Act, also known as a climate bill. What critics see as a branding problem for the reconciliation spending bill that belatedly made it to the president’s desk, Democrats hope will offer something for everyone in the midterm elections.
The measure spends billions of dollars in fighting climate change through green energy investments, tax credits, and rebates. The legislation promises to lower prescription drug prices, impose a minimum tax on the profits of the largest corporation, and reduce the federal deficit. It also appropriates some $80 billion over the next decade for IRS enforcement.
After Democrats’ $2 trillion Build Back Better Act stalled last year in Congress, legislators working to push the Inflation Reduction Act across the finish line took steps to avoid a similar fate: tackling voters’ concerns over rising prices by promising to alleviate costs in other ways.
Despite its billing, the legislation is not expected to reduce inflation. In fact, it would “very slightly” increase inflation until 2024 and decrease it thereafter at a rate “statistically indistinguishable from zero,” according to a July assessment by the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.
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For some Democrats, the bill’s climate investments ensured a promise kept to voters. Others see the commitment to reducing prescription drug prices as a crucial selling point. Or the jobs boost from spending on infrastructure and manufacturing.
Battleground Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), who last year urged legislators to create a “climate corps” alongside far-left Democratic House colleagues, touted the bill’s provisions to lower healthcare and energy costs “without raising a single penny on the Middle Class.”
Facing a newly challenging race after redistricting, Kaptur recently denounced Biden in a campaign advertisement but is touting the legislation to voters.
Democrats facing tough races in November have zeroed in on all of these, with some leveraging the bill’s title and promising to reduce costs for voters as a stand-in for fighting inflation.
After paring down Build Back Better Act, the final reconciliation bill offers another selling point to Democrats eager to draw a dividing line with their further-left colleagues.
Rep. Jared Golden (D-ME), who faces a tight rematch against former Rep. Bruce Poliquin (R), whom he narrowly unseated four years ago, wrote about voting “not once, not twice, but three times against massive reconciliation packages designed by the Biden Administration” in a recent blog explaining his support for the new bill.
The multibranded bill’s multipurpose appeal is symbolic of the administration’s efforts to appease both the Left and center of the Democratic Party while attempting to minimize its political vulnerabilities. But the scope could also have its challenges down the road.
“A bill like this gives you several different ways to sell it to the American people. It also usually means that it gives your opponents several different ways to attack you,” said Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former aide to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA).
Democrats say the bill, which they claim will create more than 9 million jobs, is already delivering for the public. And ahead of the midterm elections, pro-Biden groups are preparing to spend millions promoting this and other messages tied to the legislation in advertisements targeting groups whose support for the president has dropped.
Before the White House hosts a bill signing next week, new polling suggests the outreach to voters is working.
After a monthslong downward spiral, Biden’s job approval is trending upward with voters, reaching its highest point since September 2021, according to the latest Quinnipiac University poll.
And Democrats are earning the support of voters who remain disinclined toward Biden.
Voters have boosted Biden’s job approval since July and expressed more faith in the president’s handling of the economy, with 37% approving compared to 28% last month. Whereas 66% disapproved of his handling in July, that number has slimmed to 58%.
Inflation ranks as the country’s most urgent issue today for voters surveyed in the poll, with 27% of the vote. Among independents, it’s the lone issue to reach double-digits, at 29%.
Biden earns 44% approval for his handling of climate issues overall, with 49% who disapprove. This includes 84% of Democrats and 41% of independents, while 9% of Republicans agree.
The poll surveyed 1,584 adults nationwide from Aug. 25-29 with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.5 percentage points. The poll included 1,419 registered voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
The results show promise for Democrats in the fall, analysts said.
“The Republicans are trying, but unfortunately for them, a lot of these different provisions are very popular and poll very well,” Manley argued.
Despite perceived support for the bill’s provisions, Biden has largely spent the past two weeks castigating Trump-aligned Republicans, another message the White House views as fruitful in coalescing the disparate Democratic caucus and papering over disagreements.
Robert Blizzard, a veteran Republican pollster, said the legislation is one of several levers Democrats have pulled to drive voter turnout come November.
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“Roe v. Wade, the Jan. 6th commission, the climate bill, student loan forgiveness, and now trying to keep Trump in the bloodstream are all efforts by the White House to gin up enthusiasm among their Democratic base and frame the upcoming midterm as more of a choice,” Blizzard said.
He told the Washington Examiner that Democrats would face a reckoning if the elections are a referendum on their leadership in Washington.
With weeks still to go, the tactic is bearing results, with Democrats leading the generic congressional ballot in Quinnipiac’s and other polls.
“The Democrats were successful over the summer in increasing interest among their base, and they need to keep it going,” Blizzard said of their efforts.
