Is Joe Biden on a bit of a rebound? ISIS strike, omicron ebb give besieged president a boost
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Is President Joe Biden on a bit of a rebound?
Two weeks ago, when his presidency hit the one-year mark, assessments of his popularity and his administration's competence were mostly dire. A record-setting two-hour news conference he called to make his case instead prompted days of efforts to clean up ill-phrased remarks on Ukraine and elections.
But on Thursday, Biden delivered a crisper and more positive message, announcing that "under my orders" a U.S. special-operations attack in Syria had led to the death of the leader of the militant Islamic State.
“I’m determined to protect Americans from terrorist threats," he declared from a podium in the Roosevelt Room, "and I’ll take decisive action to protect this country.”
The daring of the mission and the competency of the military – even the photo of the commander in chief surrounded by aides in the Situation Room watching the mission unfold in real time – were reminiscent of a highlight of Barack Obama's presidency when he announced the death of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in 2011.
There's more on the bright side.
The Labor Department Thursday announced initial jobless claims declining, an encouraging sign for the economy despite concerns about what Friday's employment report will show. Coronavirus cases and hospitalizations are falling in most states, though not all, as the omicron surge seems to be ebbing. An opening on the Supreme Court, and his promise to appoint the first Black woman, have energized some core Democrats who have been disheartened by intra-party divisions that have blocked the administration's domestic agenda in the Senate.
To be sure, big problems persist, from inflation to crime. But the change in the conversation is a reminder of how quickly things can shift for presidents, by events they can control and those they can't. It underscores how risky it is to predict with any confidence where things will stand down the road – in 2024, for instance. Or by the November midterms. Or maybe even next month.
The real question is not if Biden is on a rebound. It's whether, and how, he can keep one going. He has ignored calls by critics to replace his chief of staff, Ron Klain, but White House officials say they are implementing lessons learned from early stumbles – on the need to pay quicker attention to voters' emerging concerns, for one, and to do more to spotlight what they see as the administration's achievements.
That's one reason Biden, standing alone, addressed the nation about the death of ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi, who reportedly blew himself up as U.S. forces approached. The president then flew to New York City to focus on rising gun violence, including against police. A week ago, he traveled to Pittsburgh to tout the local projects being funded by the trillion-dollar infrastructure bill Congress passed last year, a need that was reinforced by the collapse of a local bridge hours before he arrived.
More: ISIS leader Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi dies in US military raid in Syria
He made a hastily scheduled side trip to visit the site of the crumbled bridge, a photo op more compelling than any the White House advance team could have planned. “The idea that we’ve been so far behind on infrastructure for so many years, it’s mind-boggling,” Biden said then, noting that thousands of bridges across the country are aging. "We're going to fix them all."
"We stay focused on the long game, on the long view," White House counselor Steve Ricchetti said in an interview. "We know because we've done this before – the president more than anyone – that there will be weeks when it feels like the going is a little tougher, or there may be either some turbulence or disagreement or discouragement. That's part of doing this job."
There is no shortage of challenges ahead.
Inflation remains at a 40-year high, a problem Americans fault the White House for not taking more seriously sooner. Confirming Biden's choice to replace retiring Justice Stephen Breyer could test Democratic unity amid jockeying by progressives and moderates. Talks seem to be going nowhere on revamping the administration's signature Build Back Better bill to address the objections by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democrat, that blocked its passage in December.
And while the administration has gotten high marks so far for handling the Russian threat to Ukraine, forging a reasonably united NATO response, the real test will come if and when Moscow orders an invasion of its neighbor.
More: U.S. says Russia is developing video of fabricated attack as pretext for invading Ukraine
Meanwhile, the readiest test of how a president is doing, his job approval, stands at 41.7% approve, 52.6% disapprove for Biden, according to public polls averaged by FiveThirtyEight.com. His rating has been on a slide since last summer, now below that of any other modern president at this point in his term except Donald Trump. He was a tick lower, at 40.2%.
The good news for Biden: It's no longer getting worse.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Is Biden on a rebound? ISIS strike, omicron ebb, high court are boosts
