It’s not quite morning in America. Joe Biden’s economy is undeniably strong almost every way you look at it, such that he’s begun campaigning on the media portmanteau “Bidenomics,” pitching a Reaganesque story with an FDR twist—that his combination of industrial policy and pro-union support is rebuilding the economy “from the middle out, and the bottom up.” There’s just one big problem, though: Most of America's influential voters are upper middle-class professionals who are a bit worse off than before he took office, and they comprise the Democratic base.
With the offyear elections in the rearview mirror, the two major political parties increasingly appear locked in for the 2024 presidential contest, with the economy taking a starring role in voters’ minds. And that’s a worry for the president, as a flurry of polls released this month show Biden struggling to defend his economic policies against pessimistic consumers and workers.
