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Dragged down by the President’s low-40s approval ratings, Democrats lost the governorship of Virginia — a state Biden had won a year before by 10 points — and very nearly saw heavily favored New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) toppled as well.
And in between? The still-uncertain fate of the President’s two major domestic policy priorities: a $1 trillion “hard” infrastructure bill that’s already passed the Senate and is waiting for House approval, and a broader $1.75 trillion bill social safety net measure, which, even if passed by the House, is likely headed toward a significant Senate overhaul.
The yo-yoing nature of Biden’s week speaks to the reality of the modern presidency — buffeted by external events over which you have very little actual control.
What’s also difficult to know is whether Biden’s Tuesday or Friday matters more.
Spanberger was something of an exception to the rule in her party, however. Most Democrats insisted that the problems exposed by Tuesday’s losses were that voters were fed up with inaction on bills that their party had done a poor job of selling to the public.
Under that line of thinking, passing Biden’s agenda — and the resultant economic upturn that many Democrats predict — will fix what ails the party. That belief was buoyed by Friday’s positive jobs numbers.
We won’t know which side — was Tuesday the defining day of Biden’s presidency or was Friday? — prevails anytime soon. In fact, we may not know until the November 2022 election.
The Point: Both parties see this week as a pivotal — and positive — one for their political futures. Only one side will be right.