As those that reside in the beltway continue to encroach more and more on the individual lives of Americans, a backlash is building. You won’t see it in the pages of The New York Times or on CNN, nor will it be admitted to by any number of blue checkmark liberals on social media, but rest assured, it’s coming.
And while they will continue to put on a happy face, I think Democrats are well aware of the corner they’ve painted themselves into. With every radical move in Washington, more and more “moderate” Congressional members see their chances at reelection decrease back home.
Never fear, though. The White House is unleashing its secret weapon, famed educator and political dynamo…Jill Biden?
Jill Biden is headed to Wisconsin and Iowa on Wednesday. She’ll talk about school reopenings in Milwaukee and promote the administration’s agenda for families in Des Moines with Rep. Cindy Axne, WH says.
— Morgan Chalfant (@mchalfant16) September 13, 2021
As I’ve written before, the level at which Jill Biden operates as a political operative for her husband is unusual. Perhaps that’s a result of her own ambition, something that was previously exposed as she pushed her mentally declining husband through the 2020 campaign. Regardless, I’m not sure the First Lady resonates with anyone who isn’t already rabidly left-wing. Does anyone think an Iowan is going to change their vote because Jill Biden showed up to tell them about “build back better?” Color me skeptical.
Yet, persuasion seems to be the plan for the White House and Democrats at large going into 2022. Jill Biden will appear with Rep. Cindy Axne, who was the only Democrat to win a House seat in Iowa in 2020. Axne took down David Young for the second time in as many years by 1.4%. As an aside, Republicans should really stop running the same people who keep losing over and over (cough Martha McSally cough).
Regardless, Democrats know the landscape is going to look far different in 2022, especially for liberal incumbents in swing districts. These are the places that I think the appeal of Jill Biden just won’t resonate. She represents a Washington ruling class, led by her husband, that has brought about failure after failure over the last year. Even the discussion of school reopenings is tone-deaf, especially in Iowa where schools are already open. Normal people are tired of federal apparatchiks flying in on private jets to tell them what they need to do with their families.
As for the push to promote Biden’s agenda, what part of that is supposed to appeal to people in Iowa? This just seems like a strategic error to me. Any Democrat in a swing district would do well to distance themselves from anyone and anything connected to the Biden administration. But I think the egos involved here are too large to let that happen. We’ll see how it all works out for Jill and her cohorts.
