The disappointing results in several state and local elections on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, shocked the ruling party and boosted Republican hopes of gaining control of both houses of Congress in the 2022 election.
Of course, state and municipal elections are influenced by a variety of factors and do not necessarily function as a credible political barometer.
In Virginia, for example, where Democrats lost the battle for power to a businessman who had never run for office, Joe Biden, had won a year before Donald Trump by a margin of 10 percentage points. Republicans had not won an election since 2009. In New Jersey, a traditionally Democratic state where the registered Democrats are one million more than Republicans, the battle was decided on the thread, although in the end the big surprise did not happen.
But the concern lies elsewhere. Because from Long Island and Philadelphia to San Antonio and Seattle, the outcome of local confrontations showed a general trend: middle-class suburbs alienated from Donald Trump’s inflammatory right-wing populism and turned to Joe Biden. they are now returning to the big, conservative party, while popular sections who wanted to see the Democratic President as the second incarnation of Franklin Roosevelt were largely absent, disappointed by the failure of the promises.
Joe biden’s popularity plummeted from 57% when he came to power to 42% today. It is the lowest percentage for any President at this time of his tenure since polls, with the sole exception of Donald Trump.
The reasons for the electoral failure
• The humiliating exit from Afghanistan.
• The chaotic management of the immigration wave from Haiti.
• The inability to stop the pandemic.
• The increased cost of living and the lack of products on the shelves of supermarkets.
• Joe Biden’s inability to deliver on his central campaign promise of a green New Deal for a fairer and more sustainable America.
• Joe Biden’s inability to double the basic salary to $ 15 an hour, when the basic salary has been stuck at $ 7.25 since 2009.
• The corporate tax, which was 35% under Obama and reduced to 21% by Trump, not only did not rise to the 28% promised by Joe Biden but remained stagnant.
• The property tax on higher incomes was never imposed, in order to finance social programs.
All of these reasons created a negative conjuncture for Democrats.
Joe Biden’s political legacy
In the 10 months of his rule, Joe Biden has passed two bills that could seal his political legacy.
• The first bill is $ 1 trillion and concerns the restoration of American infrastructure (roads, bridges, electricity, transportation, communications, processors) and has been approved by the Senate with the votes of several Republicans.
• The second bill of 3.5 billion concerns the green transition and the welfare state, but runs into the fierce resistance of the Republicans who characterized it as Marxist.
Given the marginal correlations in Congress, only the full mobilization of Democrats could secure a vote in favor of the bill, but there are “rebels” within the Democrats who are backed by the lobby of the pharmaceutical industry. These “guerrillas” vetoed, citing the effects of the bill on inflation and the budget deficit.
Seeking a compromise within the party, Joe Biden not only crippled but cut his program in half (to $ 1.75 trillion from the original $ 3.50 trillion), with implications for public health, education and housing.
The left wing of the Democratic MPs, on the other hand, refuses to ratify the infrastructure bill, as it fears that the two guerrillas will not vote on the social environmental bill anyway. It turns out that the reflection on the political strategy for the future of the democrats will have a great continuity.
