Exactly a year ago, on November 3, 2020, the presidential elections were held in the United States, at which the then-current leader of the country, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Joe Biden, staged a real battle for the White House.
The 2020 campaign was so noisy that the echoes of electoral scandals are still heard over Washington, and the losing ex-president every now and then no, no, and will publicly doubt the honesty of his opponent’s victory. One way or another, America has chosen a new owner of the Oval Office, and for the remaining at least three years, all the ups and downs of the United States will be associated with his name.
Joe Biden famously climbed to the top of the political Olympus of the States – not to match his image and character, setting a record for the absolute number of votes cast for a candidate. Then the Democrat secured the support of 81.2 million voters, beating the 2008 achievement of his former boss Barack Obama (69.4 million). By the time of the inauguration on January 20, 2021, according to a Reuters / Ipsos poll, Joe Biden came up with an impressive approval rating of 57%, only 32% of Americans had a negative attitude towards the newly elected president, thus making a positive balance of + 25%. It is noteworthy that even the studies of sociological centers suspected of love for the Republicans, at that time, drew a democrat entirely bright horizons.
Whether someone likes it or not, Joe Biden entered the White House as the unifying president, which he declared himself to be. A kind of kind doctor, so necessary for America, which is ill in the literal and figurative sense. The head of the White House immediately announced the “return” of the United States, promised to fight for human rights and equality, take care of all the disadvantaged and, of course, defeat the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccinate everyone and everything in America, and then help others. The 78-year-old politician has not really done anything yet, except that he took Kamala Harris, the first woman in this position in all respects, to become his vice-president, and according to Time magazine he became “man of the year”, getting on the popular cover with his partner.
Having said many beautiful and correct things, the US President gained approval in the eyes of ordinary voters, and the failures and problems, which, naturally, did not disappear with the departure of Donald Trump, were easily explained by the talking democratic heads of intrigues and ignorance of the previous Republican administration. The bosses who settled in and around the White House even managed to push the migration crisis on the border with Mexico onto the short-sighted policy of the former leader, although it would seem obvious that the influx of illegal immigrants was caused by the first steps of the country’s new leadership, which actually opened the doors for all the humiliated and insulted.
At the same time, Joe Biden’s team carefully protected the boss from unnecessary questions, and in public speeches he himself preferred to talk only about achievements, not quite gracefully, but still dodging uncomfortable questions. The American leader turned to his advantage what his competitor had burned on. At every opportunity, the president urged fellow citizens to be vaccinated, set various goals for immunizing the population by certain dates, wore (sometimes lost) masks everywhere and in every possible way raised America to fight the coronavirus. And, in all honesty, he, in general, had something to brag about. But then the vaccination campaign stalled somewhat, and the Delta strain that originated on the banks of the Ganges eventually reached the United States, causing a new wave of the pandemic.
It would be unfair to blame Joe Biden for the next round of morbidity. Almost all countries have suffered from the insidious “Delta” to one degree or another. Another thing is that, as Trump was convinced, such things cannot be explained to the voter, especially since the Democrat promised a COVID-free future, but it did not work out. Now the wave has begun to subside (on November 1 there were +48 thousand cases). However, its peaks – under 200 thousand – fell on August. And unfortunately, in the same month, an Afghan embarrassment happened.
It was from the moment of the final phase of the exodus of the US military from Afghanistan that Joe Biden began to have problems. Most Americans have long supported the authorities’ decision to leave the country, but the way it happened and how it ended has caused consternation even among the most ardent supporters of laissez-faire. The failed operation to evacuate the Afghans working for Washington, the evacuation of American diplomats from the roof of the embassy in Kabul, which Vietnam responded with phantom pains, and the seizure of power in the country by the Taliban (banned in Russia) – all this brought such a barrage of criticism on the president that desperate attempts Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and other representatives of the administration somehow did not find a response to the surrender of their hard-won rights and freedoms for Afghans. And the phrase “America is back” sounded completely different.
Add to this the problems with the adoption of the federal budget by Congress, almost Halloween horror stories about a possible default and accelerated inflation to 5.4%, which is unusual in the United States, and we get a sharp drop in the output.
It remains to be seen what hit Joe Biden harder, because, as you know, Americans vote with their wallets, but in the end, America approached the anniversary of the Democrat’s victory in a state that was clearly far from the promised prosperity. Not a catastrophe, but under Trump they were not on the brink of a precipice either.
As a result, at the end of October, a study by the same Reuters / Ipsos showed that there was no trace of Joe Biden’s former figures. 44% approve of the current president’s policy, 51% are dissatisfied. Total negative balance -7% instead of + 25% in January. Other polls show statistics even worse, but, remarkably, for three weeks now, not a single center, even the most pro-democratic, has given the head of the White House a positive rating. However, Donald Trump had worse performance at times. Another thing is that from the very beginning everything was not very stable for the Republican. The democrat, on the other hand, managed to fly down to the level of his predecessor from a very impressive height. And it will be extremely difficult to return to it.
A year later, midterm congressional elections are coming in the United States, and then presidential elections are just a stone’s throw away. And looking at how experienced and correct from all sides Joe Biden lost support in a matter of months, it is time for the bosses of the Democratic Party to think about who will lead them into the battle for the White House in 2024. After all, the pre-election race has already begun. Actually, it did not stop.
Alexey Zabrodin, Izvestia newspaper