The Return of Bill Clinton
Joe Biden’s approach to governance is not the only way.
Joe Biden is an unpopular president. He has spent over two years with an approval rating near forty percent. His opponent, Donald Trump, is trusted more on nearly every social and economic issue from immigration to inflation and unemployment. Biden’s weakness has prompted a number of left-leaning third-party candidates to join the race, most notably Cornel West, Jill Stein, and to a certain degree Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Biden is in such a precarious position that it is front-page news when there is a story that his staff is not panicking.
Joe Biden still has advantages over Donald Trump. He has the benefits of incumbency, universal name recognition, and the ability to improve his image with economic success over the next year. But there is still a good chance that Biden will lose in 2024. If he does, such a defeat will not just push Biden into retirement, but will also lead to a substantial shift in the operations of the next Democratic president.
Joe Biden’s victory in 2020 was not just a repudiation of the Trump administration. It was also a subtle rebuke to the way Democratic politics had been run for 30 years. Biden launched an experiment in Democratic governance. His administration would embrace youthful movements and government-focused economic policies. Instead of spending as little…