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Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
@RonBrownstein
Oct 1, 2020 • 9 tweets • 4 min read • Read on X
Trump's belligerent & dangerous behavior obscured how poorly Biden performed for much of #2020debate. On health care he totally misrepresented his own position-making it sound worse than it is. His lead on health fell dramatically in @StanGreenberg focus groups of debate watchers
Sure it was tough w/Trump hectoring, but Biden not only failed to explain his plans to build on #ACA but said his public option is "only for those people who are so poor they qualify for Medicaid they can get that free in most States." No it's not. It's available for everyone
including those who pay too much for employer provided care. His website: "Whether you’re covered through your employer, buying your insurance on your own, or going without coverage altogether, the Biden Plan will give you the choice to purchase a public health insurance option"
He would automatically enroll those eligible for Medicaid in GOP states that won't expand it, but importantly he makes this available to everyone. Again, tough w/Trump hectoring, but Biden never mentioned any of his plan's elements that aid the middle-class,
These include much higher subsidies for people buying on exchanges and allowing Medicare to negotiate w/drug companies for lower prices & forcing all drug companies who want to participate in Medicare to limit price increases to inflation.
Again: extenuating circumstances, but pretty astonishing that as Trump names a Justice who could overturn the #ACA, Biden portrays his biggest health initiative as something solely for poor-exactly the messaging Ds have been trying to escape from 1st day Obama unveiled ACA
Bottom line: in the @StanGreenberg dial groups, Biden's advantage over Trump dropped during the debate more on health care than any other issue, w/ very big decline among non-col white women: precisely the group that were Ds most important target on #PreExistingConditions in 2018
Trump's ominous and erratic behavior, his open incitement & encouragement of white nationalists, his summons for violence & intimidation on Election Day, all justifiably overshadowed Biden's performance. But apart from #ClimateChange he didn't effectively explain any of his plans
Focus group women re-contacted by @SarahLongwell25 reinforce: horrified by Trump but few impressed by Biden. He's clearly ahead & any day that doesn't change the dynamic is good 4 him. But no one should pretend he performed well enough to resolve the doubts voters hold about him.

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More from @RonBrownstein

Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
Jun 6
The willingness of so many Rs, across the GOP spectrum, to unreservedly echo Trump’s denunciation of his conviction shows that the flickers of independence that flashed during his 1st term have been virtually extinguished nearing a possible 2nd. My take. theatlantic.com/politics/archi…
GOP elected officials are aligning obediently behind Trump even as numerous signs suggest that the Supreme Court’s Republican-appointed majority, and other GOP-appointed judges in the federal courts, may be more willing than in his first term to openly defend and enable him
And all of these indications of Trump’s tightening grip over Republicans in the electoral and legal arenas follow his description of a second-term agenda that pushes more aggressively against the limits of law and custom on presidential power.
Read 5 tweets
Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
Jun 2
Trump plans that could most supercharge inflation start w/sweeping tariffs. New @PIIE study found tariffs would raise prices for consumers on the goods they purchase by $500 billion a year, or ~ $1,700 annually for a middle-income family.
The cost for consumers could be about twice as high if domestic manufacturers increase their own prices on the goods that compete with imports, said @kclausing, one of the study's co-authors
“Trump is promising a no-holds-barred, all-out protectionist spree that will affect every single thing that people buy that is either an import or in competition with imports,” sais @KClausing
Read 9 tweets
Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
Apr 30
Trump to @TIME: Trump has sought to recast an insurrectionist riot as an act of patriotism. “I call them the J-6 patriots,” he says. When I ask whether he would consider pardoning every one of them, he says, “Yes, absolutely.”
he suggests Biden’s fate may be tied to an upcoming #SCOTUS ruling on whether Presidents can face criminal prosecution for acts committed in office. “If they said that a President doesn’t get immunity,” says Trump, “then Biden, I am sure, will be prosecuted for all of his crimes”
On mass deportation: For an operation of that scale, Trump says he would rely mostly on the National Guard to round up and remove undocumented migrants throughout the country. “If they weren’t able to, then I’d use [other parts of] the military,” he says.
Read 8 tweets
Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
Mar 21
Among other lightning rod provisions @RepublicanStudy calls for repealing Medicare authority to negotiate for lower prescription drug prices, cap out of pocket drug spending for seniors, force rebates when drug cos increase prices faster than inflation & cut insulin price to $35
"Biden & Congressional Dems have embraced socialist price controls that will limit access to life-saving drugs....As part of the full repeal of the disastrous IRA, the RSC Budget would ensure continued access to these life-saving treatments by removing these price controls"
Medicare will announce its first round of lowered prices thru negotiations w/drug companies on 9/1/24. It's a centerpiece of Biden efforts to convince voters his agenda can lower their costs. Now largest caucus of House Rs gives him a clear contrast by proposing to repeal it
Read 5 tweets
Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
Mar 7
Trump mostly frames the race as a comparison b/twn their terms, arguing he left US in great shape & Biden derailed it. Biden has plenty to shoot at vs that argument, but multiple D strategists told me it'd be a mistake for Biden to claim success while so many are struggling
@davidaxelrod "I don’t think you want to argue about whether you are better off in those [Trump] years or these years. You want to argue about who will help you be better off in the future, and what you have to do to make people better off in the future.”
@patrickgaspard says that although Biden may want to accentuate the positive, it is more important for him to acknowledge the frustration that so many Americans feel about their “lived experience with inflation and immigration.” “
Read 8 tweets
Ronald Brownstein Profile picture
Feb 12
Democrats face a dangerous convergence: The party must defend an unusually large number of seats in terrain that is highly contested at the presidential level precisely as Biden is struggling in polls against Trump
In Nov, Dems are defending 3 Senate seats in states where Trump beat Biden in 2020 (OH/MT/WV). Those have received much attention. But Dems are also defending 5 Senate seats in states that Biden in 20 won by 3 points or less. Rs aren't defending any in states Trump lost or won <3
That reflects a fundamental imbalance. Each side now dominates the Senate seats in the 25 states its presidential nominee won in 2020. But Biden won six states by 3 or less, compared to just 1 for Trump (NC). Even extending the net to 5 pts only adds 1 more narrow Trump state, FL
Read 9 tweets

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