The Biden White House has spent months trying to make “Bidenomics” work. But as the general election campaign begins, the president’s team is rolling out something a little different: an economic argument that tries to frame former President Donald Trump as the candidate of corporate tax cuts and Biden as a scourge of the ultra-wealthy.
It is a decidedly populist turn meant to overcome voters’ doubts about the state of the economy by moving the debate away from a referendum on Biden and into a choice between the two main parties.
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Biden spent the last six months trying to sell his economic agenda under the banner of “Bidenomics,” an effort to boost awareness of his accomplishments and optimism over the nation’s overall trajectory.
But that effort was overshadowed by lingering frustration with the rising cost of living. Even as Americans’ view of the economy brightened over the last two months, Biden’s approval ratings remain mired near the low-water mark of his presidency.
Within the Biden camp, officials are clear-eyed they face an uphill climb in turning the economy into a winning issue. And while nearly every presidential incumbent tries to turn their election into a choice rather than a referendum, Biden has a distinct challenge of facing off against a candidate with little in the way of a concrete policy platform to contrast himself against.
“Trump is sort of a policy chameleon,” said Danielle Deiseroth, executive director of progressive think tank Data for Progress, which has spent the last several months polling voters on messages that might erode Trump’s advantage on the economy. “He’s able to be a little more slippery.”