As the Republican Party tears itself apart, US President Joe Biden is putting himself above the fray in a bid to show he is the calm alternative to chaos. The Democrat took a presidential tone on Wednesday as he urged an end to the “poisonous atmosphere” in Washington and announced a major speech on aid for Ukraine. It capped a week during which he rolled out a series of voter-friendly announcements on health care and student debt, while his rivals were grabbing unwanted headlines with their brutal infighting.
The contrast could not have been clearer with Republicans, whose ability to legislate has been thrown into turmoil after hardliners ousted their own House speaker Kevin McCarthy. The 80-year-old Biden, who is battling low approval ratings ahead of next year’s US presidential election, also stayed silent on his likely 2024 rival Donald Trump’s appearance in court in New York in a fraud case.
“Biden being in the background is a very good strategy,” Robert Rowland, a political communication expert at the University of Kansas, told AFP. “He should demonstrate he is a strong president and let the Republican bloodbath unfold. He cannot do anything about it, he might as well let the Democrats benefit from it.”
– ‘Split screen’ –
The strategy plays into the White House’s “split screen strategy” to highlight the contrast with the Republicans — often literally using side-by-side images on social media. That also involves using the power and symbolism of the presidency, with Biden giving televised remarks from behind a lectern in the Roosevelt Room of the White House on Wednesday.
Biden urged squabbling Republicans to work with Democrats on Ukraine and also to avoid the threat of another government shutdown next month, after narrowly averting one at the weekend. “We need to stop seeing each other as enemies,” he said.
Then Biden returned to the policies he hopes will win over voters, announcing a further $9 billion in student debt relief, after the Supreme Court canceled his loan forgiveness program in June. On Tuesday Biden said drugmakers have agreed to negotiate on reducing prices, a key plank of his bid to cut soaring healthcare costs ahead of elections. And on Monday he hosted a photo-friendly event to celebrate disability legislation featuring US actress Selma Blair, who has multiple sclerosis — during which her support dog rested its head on the presidential foot.
– ‘Always fighting’ –
Republicans have noticed the strategy, and are not happy. “Why is it that Republicans are always fighting among themselves,” lamented Trump, whose hardline Republican allies launched the coup against McCarthy. Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator from South Carolina who is a close Trump ally, said the turmoil means Biden “gets a break and takes the focus and attention away from his many failures in office.”
But the strategy is not without risk. If the US becomes paralyzed by the political chaos, with the House in search of a speaker and a new budget shutdown cliff looming in November, it’s unlikely Biden could stay so hands-off. Voters are already concerned about Biden’s age and effectiveness, while his message of economic revival has struggled to cut through. And Biden was forced to reassure allies this week that US aid to Ukraine would continue, after it was left out of the deal to avoid a shutdown amid hardline Republican opposition. Biden and the Democrats could now struggle to get a fresh package of assistance for Kyiv through a House convulsed by Republican infighting. “If they have misread the level of Republican support, the strategy could lead to a failure to get additional funding for Ukraine,” said Rowland. – Danny KEMP
