J.ust days after he signed the $ 1.9tn coronavirus relief package into law, Joe Biden was on the road to selling the benefits of the bill to the American people – and also to his party’s own political expectations.
The president began his “Help is Here” tour last Tuesday, visiting the black flooring industry in Chester, Pennsylvania. “We’re in a position where it’s going to bring immediate relief – $ 1,400 – to 85% of the American population,” Biden said while on a trip to Smith Flooring. “And I think you should be aware: more help is on the way, really. “
Democrats have been desperate for the message Biden delivered with his campaign pledge to deliver another round of stimulus investigations and an extension of federal unemployment benefits for Americans who have suffered financial hardship due to pandemic coronavirus.
But the move of the relief bill may be the Democratic party’s best chance to take control of every chamber of Congress after next year’s midterm elections. Democrats hope his support will help them avoid the presidential party’s historic move by losing transport seats in the midterms after his election.
There is not much room for error either, as Democrats have narrow numbers in every chamber of Congress. Republicans need to turn just five seats to take control of the House, and the loss of one Senate seat would cost most of them to Democrats in the upper chamber. Such a loss would undermine Biden’s inability to implement his agenda.
With these high promises in mind, President and Vice President Kamala Harris has traveled the country to advertise the relief bill in swing states that will keep the major races of the Senate next year.
Biden told House Democrats earlier this month he wanted to learn from 2009, when Barack Obama was reluctant to take an “impact lap” after the stimulus bill was passed.
“We didn’t explain enough what we did,” Biden told lawyers. “And we paid a price for it, ironically, for that humility.”
Democratic groups are helping Biden’s winning tour, flooding the airwaves to remind voters in battle states where those just $ 1,400 payments came from. American Bridge 21st Century, a progressive political action committee, has announced a six-figure purchase focusing on the impact of the relief package. The first hat, in which a special education teacher talked about how the legislation would help schools reopen, began in Pennsylvania when Biden visited the state Tuesday.
“This is a law that is going to help people’s lives across the board, and something that is so perfectly complete on the policy side is also going to be very popular overall for the midges, “said Jessica Floyd, president of Bridge of America. A replica of many lawmakers and Democratic strategists in recent weeks, Floyd made a point for calling a vote showing that most Americans liked the relief bill.
But a Republican, who voted unanimously against the congressional relief bill, is not sitting at an angle while Democrats are doing their marketing. Republican party leaders have been busy attacking the legislation as a liberal “wish list” that does nothing to counter the crisis facing the country.
“Americans deserve targeted legislation that will speed up the circulation of vaccines, bring Americans back to work, and open our schools safely – not the consumption of hyperpartisan pigs and litter,” said Ronna McDaniel, chair of the Republican National Committee. , in a statement after the bill passed.
The National Republican Senate Committee has already launched its own digital ads against two vulnerable Democratic rulers, Mark Kelly of Arizona and Raphael Warnock of Georgia, accusing them of “blocking” ”New York and California by granting state aid in the relief package.
“Packed in the bill are provisions that will make the elders very vulnerable in vulnerable states,” said a Republican activist targeting Senate races. about bailout money to Democratic-controlled states and incentive payments to undocumented immigrants going further in voters’ memories than the $ 1,400 polls they received.
There is still time for all parties to shape how Americans look at the relief package. Despite the good vote on the bill, a recent study from the leading company Navigator Research showed that a majority of voters say they have little knowledge of the legislation.
So the challenge for Democrats and Republicans is to convince voters of the merits – or lack thereof – of the relief bill and then to keep that issue in the minds of voters and they will begin considering the candidates to support them next November.
In that sense, these rival message campaigns from both parties represent the beginning of a months-long contest to explain the beginning of Biden’s leadership in the public opinion court. The winner of that contest may walk away in control of Congress.
“Part of our job is not to let people forget that the Democrats have put together a bill that is popular now,” said Floyd. “Our job is to keep big. It is also important to celebrate for the next few months that every Republican in Congress has voted against it, and I think that keeping these two facts in mind is a great start. today. “