President Joe Biden’s failing “infrastructure” agenda on Capitol Hill reportedly threatens Democrats’ 2022 midterm chances to maintain control of the government.
David Wasserman from the Cook Political Report told the Hill that Biden’s failing agenda and sicking poll numbers are directly tied to the chances Democrats have in the 2022 midterms.
“Biden’s approval rating matters more to midterm outcomes than the success of his agenda,” Wasserman said. “If a large infrastructure bill passes, there’s no guarantee his approval will recover. … But if it fails, it could get worse — and that’s what Democrats have to fear.”
According to Civiqs polling, which Breitbart News reported in September, overall, in 25 out of 27 seats in 18 battleground states, Biden’s approval rating is underwater. In 12 out of 13 races where Republicans currently hold the seat, Biden has a negative approval rating. In seats currently held by a Democrat, 13 out of 14 seats face Biden’s underwater approval rating.
Democrats’ fears that Biden will further drag down his party is a real worry, considering Democrat lawmakers have been fighting over both the $1.2 trillion “bipartisan” bill and the $3.5 trillion reconciliation package for months now.
“It’s very risky to have to go back to your district and tell people that you voted ‘no’ on $1.2 trillion of infrastructure funding,” Rep. Vicente Gonzalez (D-TX) complained about the Democrat infighting.
Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), cochair of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, said he is desperate to return to his district before the 2022 midterms and tell his constituents federal government jobs are coming to the area.
“We need to get shovels in the ground and Americans to work as soon as possible,” Gottheimer said.
But government jobs, which Biden has been promising since inauguration, has been delayed multiple times this fall by Democrat infighting. October 31 is the latest deadline Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) set.
“I think it’s going to be very difficult to get it done by then,” Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) said last week about the challenge of meeting an October 31 deadline. “The drafting is going to take some time.”
Yet “moderate” Democrats, such as Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA), believe the delay due to the two-track system will hurt Democrats in 2022. “My primary concern is why are we linking two bills together that deal with two totally different buckets of things? They’re separate bills touching on separate issues,” Spanberger said.
“We are now arbitrarily waiting until some point in the future for the progress of another bill that is outside of physical infrastructure to pass. And so now these bills are tied together,” Spanberger added. “There had been talks of dual track; dual tracks mean two. Now they’re, I guess, on the same exact train car.”
Radical Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) suggested the far-left is doing what they can to negotiate in good faith while accusing the “moderate” Democrats of trying to “kill” Biden’s agenda.
“Inaction is insanity. … Trying to kill your party’s agenda is insanity. … Losing the majority in the House in the Senate is insanity,” Omar said.
“Being sane is trying to do everything that you can to get to the table, negotiate in good faith, not break deals, and deliver on behalf of the American people on the promises that we make,” she added.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø.