The Biden Administration’s work continues apace. Check out the growing and deep list of achievements on the FridayAction Biden page and below.
Many reasons for November optimism—Simon Rosenberg keeps megaphoning the message. Listen to his YouTube interview this week. You’ll feel empowered.
Joe Biden is a good president.
The country is better off.
The Democratic win streaks have been consistent for three years.
Republican turnouts in Iowa and New Hampshire were anemic.
20-30% of the Republican electorate are deeply worried about Trump.
The GOP is “an unprecedented mess.”
They have Trump for a presidential candidate.
Who would you rather be?
Rosenberg believes, according to the data, we could win this election by a strong margin. We must talk less about them, talk more about us and the good things we’re doing.
Why Democrats should stop freaking out about Biden in 2024. Need more convincing? “It’s governing, not campaigning, that counts,” says Paul Lichtman, political scientist. Here is an article that refutes recent scary prognostications with historical evidence. Polls are famously wrong. And don’t count out incumbency as a solid advantage. New York Magazine
Major Texas Newspaper endorses Joe Biden. The Houston Chronicle has caused a stir, but it “heartily” endorses Biden for his experience, his leadership despite the polarized nation, his belief in the power of government to make life better, and because electing Biden will “fend off the chaos, corruption and danger to the nation” that is Trump. The Houston Chronicle
Biden ranks 14th in historians’ presidential polls. Trump ranks 45th. Here’s the scoop from the prime source, opinions of the nation’s foremost political scientists. Have fun with the data. Biden places two steps above Reagan. Obama is ranked highest of any modern president. Jimmy Carter is placed 21st and George W. Bush trails at 32nd. And yes, Trump is last. 2024 Presidential Greatness Project
GOOD MOVES THIS WEEK
Biden announces more than 500 new sanctions on Russia after Navalny’s death. Politico
Biden is boosting cybersecurity at U.S. ports, where online attacks can be more ravaging than storms. Associated Press
The Biden Administration is providing $1.5 billion to GlobalFoundries to make computer chips in New York and Vermont. Associated Press
Administration announces $5.8 billion in funding to clean up nation’s drinking water, upgrade infrastructure. CNN
U.S. Department of Labor announces $85M in available funding to improve job opportunities for youth in communities affected by violence, poverty. U.S. Department of Labor
OTHER POLITICS AND MATTERS OF LAW
House GOP Biden impeachment effort continues to implode. Last week, it was reported that their star witness and FBI informant lied about a Biden bribe—the information was never confirmed. This week we find those lies came from officials associated with Russian intelligence. The Republicans still haven’t dropped it, but there’s no there there. The New Yorker
Fani Willis continues to defend her romantic relationship with one of her team. The issue is over the Georgia prosecutor’s alleged conflict of interest. Stay tuned but, here too, so far, there’s no there there. Washington Post
Judges in D.C. raise their voices to contradict far-right attempts to rewrite January 6th history. While Trump and right wing media are still calling convicted rioters “hostages,” judges are swatting down propaganda from the bench. “This is all preposterous,” Judge Lamberth states in a sentencing hearing. The “destructive, misguided rhetoric” could present “further danger to our country.” CBS News
3 out of 5 see corporate greed as the cause of inflation. While not strictly political, this shift of opinion, up 15% since January, has positive ramifications for Biden. Dictionary.com added a new word, “greedflation.” The Hill
Pennsylvania Supreme Court rules that the GOP subpoena for voter information cannot be enforced. Republicans are still trying to overturn the 2020 election. This is the latest failed gambit. NBC News
AND FINALLY
Marilynne Robinson, in The New York Times, says “Frankly, I’m less than a year younger than Joe Biden, so I believe utterly in his competence, his brilliance, his worldview. I really do. You have to live to be 80 to find this out: Anybody under 50 feels they’re in a position to condescend to you. You get boxed into this position where people who deal with you are making assumptions about your intellect. It’s very disturbing. Most people my age are just fine. What can I say? It’s a kind of good fortune that America is categorically incapable of accepting: that someone with a strong institutional memory, who knows how things are supposed to work, who was habituated to their appropriate functioning is president. I consider him a gift of God. All 81 years of him.” The New York Times
“There is no shame in doing little. There is shame in doing nothing.”
– Alexi Navalny