“Democrats are building a better America for everyone,” Biden said in a rare appearance at the Democratic National Committee’s headquarters, where the president laid out what he called his “closing argument” before Election Day. “Republicans are doubling down on their mega MAGA trickle-down economics.”
Missing from the speech? Any mention of crime or immigration, two issues that most voters rank as their top priorities along with the economy and inflation.
“Biden is not getting in front of these issues at all,” said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist College Institute of Public Opinion. He noted that “the messaging has been slow” to react to public concerns.
Americans listed inflation, elections and voting, crime, immigration and jobs and employment as their top five priorities in a Monmouth University poll released last week. A Morning Consult poll published Tuesday found that likely voters care most about the economy and crime, but feel that Biden is prioritizing abortion and climate change, in addition to the economy.
As Biden enters the final weeks of the election, he is facing mounting criticism for the disconnect between his midterm messaging and voter concerns, as well as for his decision not to hold large campaign events to rally Democratic voters.
Still, Biden has shown no signs of making a last-minute change in strategy, despite attacks from Republicans who paint him as out-of-touch with everyday Americans and private grumbling from Democrats that he should be doing more to help the party retain control of Congress.
The president has focused instead on fundraising and highlighting his achievements in office, hoping that will be enough to motivate Democratic and independent voters.
Biden has framed the election as a choice between Democrats who are committed to protecting the social safety net, and extreme, far-right Republicans who want to slash Social Security and Medicare, and who remain beholden to former President Donald Trump.
Biden has used the issue of abortion to press his case that Republicans hold views outside of the American mainstream. The Supreme Court decision earlier this year that overturned Roe v. Wade energized Democrats, but polls show the party’s focus on abortion may not help as much as they had hoped.
The president’s emphasis on foreign policy also does not appear to be resonating with most voters. Foreign policy is rarely a top priority for U.S. voters in elections, and the 2022 midterms are no exception. But that has presented a serious challenge for Biden, who has spent much of his second year in office focused on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Presidents in midterm election years tend to focus on their strengths, and downplay or overlook issues where they’re at a disadvantage with voters.
When it comes to the economy, Biden is quick to mention the economic growth on his watch, as well as the low unemployment rate. While he doesn’t ignore inflation in political speeches, Biden doesn’t dwell on it, either.
Biden’s recent assessment that the economy is “strong as hell” drew condemnation for being overly optimistic at a time when the rate of inflation remains at a decades-long high, and many economists are forecasting a recession next year.
“He can talk about the economy being strong in terms of employment,” said Robert Shapiro, a political science professor at Columbia University. “But the bad news gets more attention than the good news, and the inflation rate is extraordinarily high.”
Biden has run into a similar issue with the debate around crime. Republicans have claimed for decades that Democrats are soft on crime. They’ve stepped up that rhetoric under Biden, amid a sustained rise in crime rates since the start of the pandemic.
Homicides were down in large U.S. cities In the first half of 2022, but overall violent crime was up 4.2%, according to a prominent survey by the Major Cities Chiefs Association, and is still above pre-pandemic levels.
“People’s perception of crime is always worse than the reality,” said Shapiro, an expert on public polling. “But now you’ve got perception with a significant bit of reality to back it up.”
He said that’s a problem for Biden, and it extends to other issues that are top of mind to voters.
“He’s making a mistake,” Shapiro said. “He’s got to point to things that motivate voters.”
