Will he get a boost from passing legislation in Congress? Who knows? Republicans are getting hysterical and calling it communism, but they never managed to build up the same sort of all-out outrage over the infrastructure bill or Build Back Better that they did over Obamacare. My guess is the legislation will not have much effect one way or the other. What will make a difference in improvement in overall conditions.
My assessment of Biden now is that is showing the strengths and weaknesses of a longtime Senator serving as President.
The strengths: He is really good at the horse trading and wheeling and dealing to get complex legislation passed a deeply divided legislature. After all, that is what me made a thirty-plus year career in doing.
The weaknesses: He hasn't shown much executive competence, despite serving eight years as Vice President. It is my understanding that his main role as Vice President was serving as liaison with the Senate in negotiating legislation.
This raises an important question. Is it, after all, a mistake to elect so many Senators as President. Might it be better to choose state governors, who have more executive experience, and tend to be pragmatic and focused on getting things done. A governor turned president could have a Senator as Vice-President to do the negotiating with Congress.* An obvious objection might be that Democratic governors then to be blue-state governors who would seem too liberal for swing voters. But there are other options like John Bel Edwards (Louisiana) or Tom Wolf (Pennsylvania).
What will make a difference is an improvement in overall conditions, meaning, primarily, the economy.
The two main drags on the economy are COVID and supply chain issues. Supply bottlenecks are also an important factor in inflation, which is a major source of discontentment.
As for COVID, while everyone is fighting over vaccines, an effective treatment is now in the pipeline. Biden should mobilize the same resources for manufacture and distribution of treatment that he did with vaccines. Also testing. Free home test kits from the FDA and reclassify them as public health.
There has been some improvement on the front, by the way. Just a few weeks ago, when I went to order a home test kit online they were nowhere to be found. Home tests can now be ordered, but they are still expensive and not widely available in stores. We need home test kits to be plentiful as toothpaste. I am hoping that test kits will be like hand sanitizer, gloves, masks, and other medical supplies -- nowhere to be found until suddenly they were everywhere.
Incidentally, Biden faces a dilemma here. Right now, widespread availability of testing is widely popular and has not become a culture war issue. If he keeps quiet about ramping them up, he will not get credit. But if he makes a big announcement, COVID testing will become yet another culture war issue that right wingers must resist at all costs. And I have to wonder even in the absence of widespread announcements, if test kits become widely used, how long will people who see vaccine passes and masks as intolerable tyranny submit to testing. My advice is to keep quiet. If every drugstore has test kits, people will find them and use them, if only to know when they need treatment.
As for supply chains, I don't pretend to know, but Biden needs to focus like a laser on clearing them up.
And, of course, deal with any other crises that may come up, whatever they may be.
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*Other options: Someone who has done both. Or someone who has served in Congress and held a Cabinet post.
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