Biden faces wrath from frustrated supporters ‘We want him’ Joe Biden

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When Joe Biden met with a group of historians in March, there was talk of thinking big like one of his predecessors, Franklin Roosevelt, the architect of the New Deal. Biden seemed to want to join him as the number one transformational president of the United States.

Six months later, a completely different meeting took place this week outside the gates of the White House. Five young climate activists, holding placards and sitting on folding chairs, began an indefinite hunger strike. It was a deep expression of disgust with what they see as Biden’s desire to think small and break his promises.

“Young people are out in record numbers to be elected on their climate commitments,” said Nikaella Jefferson, 24, an activist who quietly helps hunger strikers on the edge of Lafayette Park. “But over the past month he almost gave up. He is not a leader at the moment in the way we want him to present.”

Activists share a growing sense of betrayal in everything from gun rights to immigration reform, and from racial justice to voting rights, who have seen the ruling majority of Democrats as a once-in-a-generation opportunity. Instead, infighting between the parties has jeopardized Biden’s agenda and could disappoint voters in next year’s midterm elections.

The 46th president took office promising to attack four crises – the coronavirus, the climate, the economy and racial justice – but saw his popularity plummet to 42% after he bumped into some harsh political and economic realities.

These include tepid job growth, labor strikes, soaring inflation and gasoline prices, bottlenecks in the global supply chain, a record number of arrests at the US-Mexico border, and the failed withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan that raised unexpected questions about its efficiency.

Even routines, such as appointing an ambassador to Japan, appear to be frustrating: Biden’s selection of Tokyo, Rahm Emanuel, has drawn a backlash from liberals over his record on racial justice as mayor of Chicago.

Fears that Biden has lost his way by failing to hold a press conference open to all have been exacerbated since taking office in January. At the time, he gave only 10 one-on-one interviews – far fewer than Barack Obama or Donald Trump at the same stage.

But the greater sense of being left out of the presidency stems from the seemingly endless debate among congressional Democrats over Biden’s trillion-dollar physical infrastructure bill and a $3.5 trillion social and environmental package.

Environmental activists march to the US Capitol earlier this month. Photography: Brian Olin Dozier/NoorPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

Two senators, in particular, Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kirsten Senema of Arizona, demanded cuts to the reconciliation package, sending a fervor to public opinion with Senator Bernie Sanders and other progressives who dominated Washington and ruled out other urgent issues.

Biden’s proud run in the history books appears to have descended into partisan libel.

“It totally blows the air out of the balloon for the Biden presidency. It hurts Biden. It hurts Democrats. It undermines seeing all the accomplishments we’re going to have as significant,” Senator Jeff Merkley, D-Oregon, told MSNBC’s Meet the Press Daily.

With his legislative agenda in limbo if not dangerous, this week Biden was forced to step in, host both factions in the White House and take a more aggressive role. That gave some Democrats new hope for a breakthrough, but signaled it would trim the $3.5 trillion package in favor of a more modest proposal, threatening the clean electricity program that has been a cornerstone of his climate strategy.

It also underscored concerns that Biden is succumbing to corporate interests in fossil fuels, prescription drug prices and tax increases. Critics say he has become so engrossed in making political sausage that he has lost sight of the big-picture issues so dear to his supporters.

Among them is the fate of democracy itself.

Do I think it supports voting rights? Absolutely. Do I think he’s willing to use the full power of his office? This has yet to be seen by Latusha Brown

Last week, Senate Republicans published a procedural rule known as a stall to prevent debate, for a second time, on sweeping reforms that would protect the right to vote. Activists who knocked on doors and raised funds for Biden warned that his failure to prioritize the issue above all others could prove his greatest regret.

Do I think he is against voter suppression? Absolutely. Do I think he supports voting rights? Absolutely. Do I think he is willing to use the full power of his office and administration to ensure that voters who voted for him are not penalized for their actions, said Latocha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Vote for it? That hasn’t come out yet.”

At CNN’s town hall Thursday night, Biden signaled his support for stalled reforms. Brown argues that he should have pushed the case earlier and more aggressively.

Voting rights activists staged a short march before civil disobedience took place at the White House this week. Photo: Alison Bailey/NoorPhoto/Rex/Shutterstock

“When you fight for those who fight for you, you go mid-term with an advantage. I think they squandered that by choosing the wrong strategy. They miscalculated. Black people may not have another viable real party option but we always have options.”

Derek Johnson, president of the NAACP, a leading civic organization, called the White House’s negativity about protecting democracy “appalling.” “I’ve heard from many of my colleagues and members that not prioritizing voting rights would be a step back from the legacy of this presidency,” he told the Washington Post.

The disappointment was on display again last weekend when dozens of immigration reform advocates staged a virtual strike on administration officials during a video meeting. They criticize Biden’s persistence of border policies under Trump, such as forcing immigrants to wait in Mexico for asylum hearings and deploying a public health system known as Title 42 to expel immigrants at the border over Covid-19 concerns.

Where is Joe Biden? Where is Kamala Harris? It leaves a lot of people wondering what they’re actually doing? Ariana Saludaris, Immigration Activist

“Address 42 is a hoax,” said Ariana Saludaris, an advocate for the New Mexico-based community organization Colors United, which took part in the strike. Politicians, including the current administration, use it to explain that those crossing the border have higher infection rates. We have the numbers from our shelters along borders to show that this isn’t entirely true.”

Speaking on the phone from Puerto Palomas, a small border town in Mexico with a water shortage, Saludaris asked, “Where’s Joe Biden? Where’s Kamala Harris? Where are all these things they said they would be able to provide us with after this ‘horrible period’.” And what now? It leaves a lot of people wondering what they are actually doing?”

Disillusionment with grassroots activists throws Democrats into trouble ahead of the House and Senate midterm elections that have historically tended to favor the party that doesn’t head the White House. Seven House Democrats have tragically announced that they will retire rather than run for reelection, while five others are seeking another elected office.

Democrats fear the return of 2010, when Obama’s tortuous but ultimately successful passage of the Affordable Care Act did not prevent Obama’s midterm rout. Looming on the horizon is Trump, who appears likely to run for president again in 2024, a prospect that fills many observers with dread of the future of American democracy.

Joe Biden delivers his remarks at the commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the dedication of the Martin Luther King Memorial in Washington, DC. Photo: Rex/Shutterstock

“This is clearly a sensitive moment in the Biden presidency,” said Bill Galston, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington and a former policy advisor to President Bill Clinton. “Right now, Biden’s agenda is planes in shambles, flying over an airport that has no runways. Enough to hold them all at once.

Things will look different once some of the planes start landing, and I expect the Infrastructure Act and Reconciliation Bill will actually be enacted well before the end of the year. This will change the mood somewhat. The situation isn’t as bad as it seems — but it’s bad enough.”

But not everyone is gloomy. Antejuan Serrait, a Democratic strategist based in Columbia, South Carolina, was more upbeat. “I feel cautious optimism,” he said. “Joe Biden has shown over time his ability to lick and keep going. He has also shown that when people count him, he always teaches them that they don’t know how to count.

“When the ink dries up about the story of this part of history, you’ll see that as an ongoing theme when it comes to Joe Biden. I think we’re right where we want to be. Mike Tyson has a quote, ‘The key to success culminates in time,’ and I think Joe Biden will do. That in the end.”

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