April 8, 2022 | OPINION | By Crosby Williams
The midterms are approaching quickly, and with seven months until Election Day, the outlook for Democrats is already bleak. The world is a different place than when Joe Biden and Democrats won control of both Congress and the Presidency in 2020.
The United States is experiencing the highest rate of inflation in over 30 years. Americans are also faced with an average gas price of four dollars per gallon at the pump, in addition to other economic impacts from the Ukrainian conflict.
The losses are mounting for Democrats on both foreign and domestic policy. I see no end in sight for the issues listed above, the Biden Administration’s and Democrats’ inability to govern is on full display going into an election where loss is practically inevitable.
The party that controls the executive branch almost always loses seats in the House of Representatives in the midterm elections. Only one president since Harry Truman in 1946 has gained seats during their first midterm election: George W. Bush in 2002, who gained a total of eight seats in the House.
35 Senate seats and all 435 House seats will be on the ballot in November, and the Democrats currently hold a razor thin three seat majority in the House. The loss of the House is practically set in stone because, according to the Council on Foreign Relations, “Going back to Harry Truman’s presidency, the president’s party has lost, on average, twenty-nine House seats in each president’s first midterm election.”
The Biden Administration could lose even more because of a failure to pass major legislation, including ‘Build Back Better’ and ‘The John Lewis Voting Rights Act’. Both bills were major staples of Biden’s campaign and, despite controlling majorities in both the House and the Senate, they both failed.
The first two years of this presidency have been underwhelming, and with Biden’s approval rating sitting at 41.2%, there are not many reasons for Democrats to have hope for November. However, there are still seven months until Americans go to the polls, and a lot can change in that time.
For example, the historic and long overdue confirmation of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson finally gained bipartisan support. She was confirmed April 7th by a vote of 53 – 47. The confirmation gave the Biden administration a much-needed win.
The Biden administration is also releasing 1 million barrels of crude oil per day from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to help ease gas prices. This is a small step that will hopefully help everyday Americans at the pump.
The Biden administration needs to take more steps to ease the financial pain that the war in Ukraine is causing Americans. In addition, Biden and the Democrats need to come up with a way to pass the legislation they promised to voters.
The Democratic party told Americans to vote, and they did, yet it seems nothing has been done. The loss is inevitable, however the extent of damage is unknown. Democrats need to keep fighting to limit the damage so that it is not catastrophic. It’s not over until it’s over.