This week’s White House Report Card finds President Joe Biden somewhat flying high on a string of victories and polls showing a resulting bump up to 50%.
That was enough for one of our two graders, pollster John Zogby, to give Biden an enthusiastic A-plus and a slap at Biden Derangement Syndrome from the president’s critics.
Citing the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner, better polls, and the victory of Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA), Zogby wrote, “One truly has to hate Biden to not give him a high grade this week.”
That was not a problem for conservative grader Jed Babbin, who gave Biden a D for the week, citing offsetting defeats for the victories Zogby highlighted. For example, he mocked as unbalanced the trade of the Russian “merchant of death” and terrorist arms dealer Viktor Bout for Griner, Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s abandonment of the Democratic Party, more border woes, and a $36 billion payoff to Big Labor as reasons.
John Zogby
Grade A+
Warnock won. Griner is home. Same-sex marriages are now protected by federal law. Gas prices are down substantially and heading toward down further. One poll has Biden at 49% approval, another at 50%.
Regarding Warnock, Yogi Berra once said that his 296-foot homer counted just as much as Mickey’s 565-foot bomb.
On Griner, yes, former Marine Paul Whelan continues to be unjustly imprisoned in Russia. And on same-sex marriage, there are holes in the legislation. But one truly has to hate Biden to not give him a high grade this week.
Jed Babbin
Grade D
Biden had another one of those weeks that started with some big highs, which were upended by week’s end, and some major league lows that will stay with us.
Biden got taken to the cleaners again this week in the swap of WNBA player Brittney Griner for Russian arms merchant Viktor Bout. It was too much like the 2014 swap former President Barack Obama made to get Army deserter Bowe Bergdahl back, trading five of the Taliban’s top commanders for Bergdahl, whose allegiance was at best questionable.
In this case, Griner, who was caught trying to smuggle cannabis vaping cartridges, was swapped for the convicted arms dealer. Bout’s customers included al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. By swapping Bout for Griner, Biden gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a big win. This is characteristic of Biden’s diplomacy: He always gives up something big and gets little or nothing in return. The least Biden could have done is to also obtain the release of Marine veteran Paul Whelan, who has been imprisoned in Russia for four years on bogus espionage charges.
President Biden ended the polling week with a daily job approval of 50%https://t.co/K0PyR8N3GM pic.twitter.com/dGmaWNRcgN
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) December 10, 2022
The Georgia Senate runoff win by Sen. Raphael Warnock over hapless Herschel Walker was going to give the Democrats a locked in a 51-vote margin. But that was before Arizona Sen. Krysten Sinema announced she was leaving the Democrat Party to be an independent. Sinema’s move won’t greatly affect Sen. Chuck Schumer’s majority leader post because she’ll caucus with the liberals, but her move reinstates Sen. Joe Manchin to his power position. Manchin and Sinema will both have to be appeased by Schumer to get anything, or any nominee, through the Senate. If there’s another Supreme Court nominee before 2024, those two will hold the cards.
Biden chose to bail out his union friends, donating $36 billion to the Teamsters’ pension fund, which couldn’t otherwise meet its obligations. No worries about this additional spending. Compared to what Biden has spent, and thereby caused the worst inflation in over 40 years, what’s another $36 billion?
Perhaps the biggest boost Biden got this week was from former President Donald Trump’s comment that the “massive fraud” in the 2020 election justified suspending the Constitution to restore Trump to power. That was the last straw for many Republicans eager for someone else to carry the GOP nomination in 2024.
Meanwhile, illegal border crossings reached another new high in November.
It’s going to be a rocky ride between now and November 2024. Buckle up, everybody.
John Zogby is the founder of the Zogby Survey and senior partner at John Zogby Strategies. His weekly podcast with son and managing 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
