Joe Biden needs to learn a lesson from Bill Clinton in 1994.

After two years of progressive idealism, Clinton and his Democratic Party got crushed in the 1994 midterms. Clinton deftly moved to the center. Then he won re-election. And his Dems even did well in his second midterm.
Biden has the ability to make this switch one year earlier into his term than Clinton did. And, perhaps, in the process, save American democracy.

Biden won because he was perceived as a moderate. He won contests that Democrats haven’t won in a while (AZ, GA and NE-02).
And over the course of the year, he has allowed himself and his agenda to be influenced significantly by a very vocal progressive caucus (which doesn’t even comprise 50% of the House Democrats).

He needs to change this.
And although the country is empirically in a much better place than it was when he took office, the last three months have featured a series of challenges which have affected his popularity. And his own party squabbling publicly without passing either bill has not helped. At all.
Bill Clinton was nothing if not extremely agile. After his party lost the House and the Senate in 1994, he moved to the center. He sounded like a centrist. And it worked for him. He was the last Democratic President to win Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia.
Biden needs to study what Clinton did after his first midterm. And he has the advantage of being able to employ those lessons one year before the same midterms. And he can leverage some legislative wins as well.
But he has to stop giving any impression whatsoever that the progressives are driving the ship. He needs to drive the ship. And show people that he can be the moderate many people expected him to be.

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More from @TheValuesVoter

2 Nov
Half of the votes cast in the 2020 Presidential Election in VA were cast in 12 of the state’s 133 counties and county equivalents:

Fairfax County (13.47% of VA votes)
Prince William County (5.11%)
Virginia Beach (5.10%)
Loudoun County (5.04%)
Chesterfield County (4.57%)
#VAGov
Henrico County (4.11%)
Arlington County (2.93%)
Chesapeake (2.85%)
Richmond (2.49%)
Norfolk (2.02%)
Alexandria (1.85%)
Newport News (1.82%)
All of these went blue in the 2020 Presidential Election.

All of these except for Chesapeake, Chesterfield and Virginia Beach went blue in the last four Presidential Elections.

Chesterfield and Virginia Beach went red 2008-2016 then flipped blue in 2020.
Read 4 tweets
2 Nov
Georgia
Arizona
Texas
Florida

What do these states all have in common?

They are all competitive, highly diverse states which have GOP Governors and GOP legislatures which have MADE IT HARDER FOR CITIZENS TO VOTE.
#VAGov
In fact, I can’t think of a single state which is competitive, has a large black or latino population and in which the GOP controls the Governorship and the State Legislature which HASN’T enacted new #VoterSuppression laws this year.

Point out any that I missed.
#VAGov
Read 15 tweets
2 Nov
Biden's approval in today's Morning Consult poll broken out by group:
assets.morningconsult.com/wp-uploads/202…

(As always, double check for yourself)
All Registered Voters: 45/51 (-6)

Men: 47/50 (-3)
Women: 44/51 (-7)
Age Groups

All Registered Voters: 45/51 (-6)
Age 18-34: 49/42 (+7)
Age 35-44: 46/48 (-2)
Age 65+: 48/52 (-4)
Age 45-64: 40/57 (-17)
GenZers: 53/40 (+13)
Millenials: 49/44 (+5)
GenXers: 39/57 (-18)
Baby Boomers: 43/55 (-12)
Party Affiliation

All Registered Voters: 45/51 (-6)
Democrats: 85/13 (+72)
Independents: 36/54 (-18)
Republicans: 13/87 (-74)
Read 12 tweets
1 Nov
I once did business with a person who mentioned that they preferred this one area of a suburb more than another. The area they didn’t like as much is an area with a very large Indian-American population. The person said of the place “it doesn’t seem as much like America.”
This wasn’t a mean person or a person intending to be mean. But this person probably inadvertently revealed they way a lot of people view demographic changes in this country. That it somehow seems not “like America.”
Whereas the truth is that this country is one long, continual, never ending story of change. People coming from all over the world. Becoming more like us and giving us some of them. That’s the most American thing there ever was.
Read 4 tweets
1 Nov
The PRRI survey is fascinating, as their surveys always are.

The survey asked what percentage of each group thought the way of life has changed mostly for the better since the 1950’s. Results:

Democrats - 63%
Independents - 48%
Republicans - 29%

prri.org/research/compe…
Perspectives/experiences probably come into play here. The 1950s were a simpler time and many people may think about Leave It To Beaver and John Wayne.

To me, that era meant people like me not being able to vote, stay in hotels, attend good schools or drink from water fountains.
One of the unfortunately aspects of human nature is we tend to not think much about or worry much about things that don’t affect us directly or affect those we know directly.

It’s not even malicious in its intent. It’s just how we are. Self-focused.
Read 13 tweets
1 Nov
Because I learn so much about how different groups of people view the same thing and because Marist breaks out the poll so well, here is how different groups of Americans asses Biden’s job performance and other issues in today’s poll:

maristpoll.marist.edu/wp-content/upl…
Biden’s Job Performance

White voters w/o College degrees:
Approve - 29%
Disapprove - 64%
(-35)

White voters w/ College degrees:
Approve - 50%
Disapprove - 46%
(+4)

39 point difference. Less than before.
Biden’s Job Performance

White Men w/o College degrees:
Approve - 20%
Disapprove - 72%
(-52)

White Men w/College degrees:
Approve - 44%
Disapprove - 53%
(-9)

43 point difference.
Read 10 tweets

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