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The Jewish Home | MAY 26, 2022

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Political crossfire

Biden’s Attack on an “Ultra-MAGA Agenda” is a Mega Blunder by Marc A. thiessen

16

OctOber 29, 2015 | the Jewish Home

W

ith his approval ratings hitting new lows, President Joe Biden has come up with a new strategy to save his party from a historic shellacking in November’s midterm elections: attacking Republicans for their “ultra-MAGA agenda.” Not since Hillary Clinton dismissed Trump voters as “deplorables” has a political attack line bombed so badly. The GOP is embracing Biden’s new catchphrase, emblazoning it on T-shirts and using it in fundraising emails. Unlike Clinton’s blunder, the “ultra-MAGA” attack is apparently the culmination of a six-month research project led by Biden adviser Anita Dunn and the left-wing Center for American Progress Action Fund. If it took the administration and its allies six months to come up with a strategy this bad, it’s little wonder they can’t figure out how to control inflation or the southern border. Biden’s attack on the “ultra-MAGA agenda” is based on a critical misunderstanding of why Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Americans didn’t vote against Trump’s agenda; they voted against Trump. His agenda was extremely popular. In September 2020, 56% of registered voters told Gallup that they were better off under Trump than they were four years earlier – a stunning number considering that we were in the midst of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, triggered by the worst pandemic since 1918, and followed by the worst racial unrest since the 1960s. That’s significantly higher than Barack Obama, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan when they won reelection. Yet unlike those presidents, Trump did not win a second term. Americans approved of Trump’s policies, but they did not approve of him.

So when Biden attacks the “ultra-MAGA agenda,” millions think: Things were pretty good under the “ultra-MAGA agenda.” Before the pandemic hit, inflation was low, gas was cheap, people were working, wages were rising, the econo-

der that a Post-ABC News poll in February found that just 17% said they are better off now under Biden than they were before he took office – and that was before inflation hit 8.5%. So running against an “ultra-MAGA agenda” is a mistake.

By making Trump his foil, Biden is only making Trump stronger going into 2024.

my was growing, the border was secure, crime was under control, the United States was an energy superpower, our adversaries across the world feared and respected us – and there were no shortages of baby formula. None of that is true today. Little won-

But Biden’s strategy is even worse than that. Not only is he attacking “MAGA Republicans,” he’s trying to make the election a referendum on the man he calls “the great MAGA king” – Trump. This is yet another unforced error. Democrats know deep down that they are going to

experience historic losses in November. If they know they are going to get crushed at the polls, why would they try make the election a referendum on Trump? When they do lose, it won’t just be a defeat for Democrats – it will be a victory for Trump. Campaigning against the “MAGA king” means losing to the “MAGA king.” By making Trump his foil, Biden is only making Trump stronger going into 2024. Worse still, Biden’s new campaign is based on a lie. To define the “ultra-MAGA agenda,” Biden has latched onto a plan introduced by Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), which suggests that all Americans should pay some income tax “to have skin in the game.” Biden has used this to assert that “congressional Republicans” want to raise taxes on half the country. He even claimed that “the majority of Republicans buy on to Scott’s plan.” That is patently untrue. Virtually no Republicans in Congress have endorsed Scott’s plan. Biden’s claim got him “Three – nearly Four – Pinocchios” from The Post’s Fact Checker. In other words, Biden’s “ultra-MAGA” attack is both dishonest and inept. So why is he doing it? Simple: He is running against the “ultra-MAGA agenda” because he can’t run on his own. When voters think of the “Biden agenda,” here is what comes to mind: the worst inflation in 40 years; the worst crime wave since the 1990s; the worst border crisis in American history; record-high gas prices; a record labor shortage with 11.5 million unfilled jobs; shortages of baby formula – and a president who appears to be completely overmatched by these problems. If that’s the best Biden can do, he’d better get ready for Americans to vote for the “ultra-MAGA agenda” in droves.

(c) 2022, Washington Post Writers Group


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Articles inside

CLASSIFIEDS

18min
pages 136-141

Your Money

3min
page 142

Then and Now by Rivki D. Rosenwald Esq., CLC, SDS

3min
pages 143-144

Early Heroes of the IAF by Avi Heiligman

9min
pages 134-135

Biden’s Attack on an “Ultra-MAGA Agenda” is a Mega Blunder by Marc A. Thiessen

3min
pages 132-133

To Counter Putin’s Aggression in Ukraine, Look to Ronald Reagan by Marc A. Thiessen

4min
page 131

Biden Seeks a New Opening in a Rattled Asia by David Ignatius

4min
page 130

Notable Quotes

5min
pages 126-129

The Aussie Gourmet: Crockpot Brisket

1min
pages 124-125

Parenting Pearls

7min
pages 120-121

JWOW

4min
pages 122-123

17 Nutrition Myths Debunked by Aliza Beer, MS RD

10min
pages 118-119

Resumes by Dr. Deb Hirschhorn

6min
pages 116-117

Teen Talk

8min
pages 110-111

TJH Speaks with Paris Popack, Coordinator of the Memorial Day Parade

5min
pages 108-109

Rudy Rochman Connects Jews from the Four Corners of the World

21min
pages 102-107

Delving into the Daf by Rabbi Avrohom Sebrow

10min
pages 98-99

Hearing Within the Darkness by Rabbi Shmuel Reichman

12min
pages 96-97

The Pebble in the Pond by Rafi Sackville

5min
pages 100-101

How to Achieve World Peace by Rav Moshe Weinberger

8min
pages 94-95

Rabbi Wein on the Parsha

2min
pages 90-93

Centerfold

4min
pages 88-89

That’s Odd

8min
pages 38-41

Israel News

9min
pages 28-31
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