Everyday citizens have abandoned Biden. When will America’s elites?
President Joe Biden speaks at the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies' 30th annual gala, Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
President Biden and America’s self-styled elites are intertwined and they’re both going down.
Since 2020, it has been a perfect marriage: Biden needed support and the elites needed a conduit for their policies. Together, they were happy; their problem is that the American people aren’t. Having abandoned Biden, the American people’s rejection is now pressuring the elite to do so too.
The Democrats are now unmistakably the party of America’s elite. From the establishment media to academia to entertainment to sports to the wealthy, all are overt in their Democratic allegiance. If the eye test of the obvious is insufficient, polling confirms it. Even the language that they use reveals it.
In 2020, America’s elite had an embarrassment of riches with the Democrats’ presidential field. There were simply too many candidates vying for the nomination and espousing elitist agendas from which to choose. And of course, as is often the case: Too many is a problem of its own excess. A collision of causes threatened them all.
Like Buridan’s ass, stuck by indecision between two bales of hay, the Democrat’s donkey could not decide which of the elitist candidates and their causes to turn to. From this chaos of candidates and causes, they settled on the one, Biden, who was historically associated with none. Yet, fate was fortuitous; because in having none, he could be loaded with all.
For Biden’s part, he was more than willing to accommodate. In 1988 and 2008, he had crashed in pursuit of the Democrats’ presidential nomination in short order. In 2016, despite being vice president, he was passed over for Hillary Clinton. And even in 2020’s early primaries, he looked ready to repeat his past.
Lacking significant support, Biden needed it wherever he could find it. So, as other candidates dropped out, Biden accumulated theirs. And with no defining agenda of his own, beyond a decades-long desire to be president, he happily added theirs as well. In the case of Kamala Harris and Pete Buttigieg, Biden even took them.
In office, Biden continued the cooptation. The elites’ policies became his.
In foreign policy, he donned the white gloves of diplomacy instead of the boxing gloves of confrontation.
In fiscal matters, he spent profligately — according to Congressional Budget Office figures: $7.9 trillion over the fiscal year 2019’s pre-pandemic baseline, $7.4 trillion in deficits over four years, and $27.9 trillion in debt.
In environmental policy, he has spent hundreds of billions on green energy, pushed EVs, proposed restricting gas appliances, restricted natural gas exportation and regulatorily restricted drilling and mining on public lands. On the economy, he steered by macro indicators rather than the micro one of inflation’s impact on consumers.
On education, his big push has been to forgive loans for the few who go to college, rather than the many who do not but will now pay them.
On immigration, he adopted an open border policy in the shared sentiment with sanctuary cities.
On social justice issues, he has missed no opportunity to virtue signal — even to the point of embracing Transgender Visibility Day on Easter.
And when the elite’s progeny seized elitist college campuses for Palestine, Biden showed his solidarity by stopping arms shipments to Israel.
However, amidst this mutual embrace of elites and Biden, America’s hoi polloi inserted themselves. The American people are decidedly negative on Biden.
According to Real Clear Politics polling, Biden’s approval rating is just 39.5 percent — over 16 points below where he was when he took office. Worse still for America’s elites, Biden’s policies — their policies — are faring even worse. Again according to Real Clear Politics, Biden’s approval rating is 39.8 percent, on the economy, 35.3 percent on foreign policy, 33.4 percent on immigration, 34.3 percent on inflation, 39.5 percent on crime and 32.3 percent on the Israeli-Palestinian war.
America’s elites find themselves in a predicament. They have stuck with Biden longer than anyone, and Biden has returned their favor. Yet as bad as it is to have their standard bearer rejected, it would be far worse to have their standards rejected.
America’s elites do not simply want the semblance of popular support for their policies, they require it. After all, if others are not following, then you’re not leading. And if you’re not leading and apart from the people, then you’re not the elite.
If the people continue to not support Biden, a time will come when the elites can no longer either. Like a foundering ship, they will need to unload their policies from him to spare them his fate. And they will not simply abandon Biden, they will blame him as they go.
The elites cannot afford to lose their policies, nor can they afford to appear to have lost touch with the American people. When the juncture comes that the elites decide to abandon Biden, it will not be pretty and will be done with the sentiment of Obama’s reported warning four years ago:
“Don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to f—k things up.”
J.T. Young was a professional staffer in the House and Senate from 1987-2000, served in the Department of Treasury and Office of Management and Budget from 2001-2004, and was director of government relations for a Fortune 20 company from 2004-2023.