Biden plays the long game as he sells benefits of COVID bill
Al JazeeraThe US president and his fellow Democrats hope the effects of the relief package result in electoral success. Unlike former President Donald Trump’s frenzied zig-zagging from one message to another – a seemingly deliberate exercise to feed each news cycle with something different – Biden’s strategy is clearly designed as part of a long political game to cement what he and Democrats believe is a massive accomplishment in the minds of voters. “Biden’s going to be riding a wave of optimism, and that will help him and his fellow Democrats,” Democratic strategist Kevin Casey told Al Jazeera. Although Biden’s job approval – 51 percent in a CNN poll released last week – remains positive, views of his handling of immigration are not keeping pace. Add their criticism of Democrats’ handling of immigration to other areas where polling is generally not in the Democrats’ favour – potential Democratic overreach and social issues such as so-called “cancel culture” or transgender rights – and Republicans see a path to potentially reclaiming control of the House and the Senate in 2022.