This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden capping a week where he finally had things fall mostly his way.
The jobs report was unexpectedly good, he took out Ayman al Zawahiri (the head of al Qaeda), two skeptical Democratic senators gave in to Biden’s tax-and-spend bill, and Democrats showed too strong to tackle in their bid to beat back an anti-abortion plan in conservative Kansas.
All in all, it was a week to cheer inside the White House, said Democratic pollster John Zogby in grading it a B-plus. It might have been a one-time shot, but Zogby said it could also be the start of something better for Biden. “President Joe Biden did in fact have a very good week on several fronts. And it may have turned into a game changer both for the remainder of his term and for the Democrats this November,” said Zogby.
Conservative analyst Jed Babbin was away this week.
John Zogby
Grade B+
As Old Blue Eyes might have crooned, “When I was 79, I had a very good week.” Or when you are a scratch golfer and you hit a five-iron within two feet of the pin, you tend to forget about the other 112 strokes, telling the story at the 19th hole afterward.
Biden did, in fact, have a very good week on several fronts. And it may have turned into a game changer both for the remainder of his term and for the Democrats this November.
Early in week, the United States killed the head of al Qaeda in his rental home in Kabul, Afghanistan, a strong counter to the argument that the U.S. could not fight terrorism without actually being in the area.
On Tuesday, Kansas voters overwhelmingly rejected an effort to change the state’s constitution that protects the right to an abortion. It wasn’t simply the margin of victory of 18 percentage points but the large turnout that showed that the Democrats may just be able to get their base out to vote and win support among suburban mothers in key states this year. While Republican leaders played down the Kansas loss publicly, arguing that inflation will be top-of-mind with voters in November, the high turnout in a Kansas August did indeed stun them.
Republicans were embarrassed by an effort to stop a bill from passing that sought to protect veterans from sickness caused by pit burns during their service in the Gulf. While those Republican senators who opposed the bill cited amendments that increased the deficit, it was too difficult to make that case without looking heartless. They were simply outmaneuvered on this one.
With support from previous holdouts Sens. Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, the Senate is on the verge of passing climate change, healthcare, taxes on the wealthy, and other provisions of the President’s larger “Build Back Better” program. While not everyone is satisfied, the Democrats are solid in backing the bill, have strong public support for it, and know that Biden will sign it into law immediately.
The price of gas at the pump went down again this week, and the Labor Department had more good news for the administration by announcing that the economy created an unexpectedly robust 528,000 new jobs and the unemployment rate went down to 3.5%. The public continues to have jitters about inflation and a recession around the corner — but they are happy about the job market.
Now, there were also three red flags this week. The number of people applying for unemployment benefits hit 223,000, and WNBA star Brittney Griner was convicted and sentenced to nine years in a Russian prison. Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan was both a statement and an act of defiance that angered the Chinese leadership. China is flexing its muscle, but the Biden administration at least kept its cool and avoided an open squabble with the speaker.
Not everything is great, but this week it was very good. The president’s polling numbers are not really moving, but the prospects for the Democrats in November improved substantially.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and partner Jeremy Zogby can be heard here. Follow him on Twitter @ZogbyStrategies
Jed Babbin is a Washington Examiner contributor and former deputy undersecretary of defense in the administration of former President George H.W. Bush. Follow him on Twitter @jedbabbin
