Budowsky: Biden’s midterm Morning in America

As a patriotic American, I have a dream, which has high odds of coming true.

As Americans and people around the world benefit from the gigantic surge of COVID-19 vaccinations that has begun and will grow exponentially through Spring, people will be astonished and amazed by the power and strength of the economic comeback and the restoration of optimism throughout the nation.

Today, while the number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 are dramatically down over the last month or two, there is still grave danger from the new mutations of the virus. In a column a month ago I warned about the need to accelerate the production of vaccines and suggested that leading companies that produce the vaccines reach licensing deals with other major drug companies to mass produce more vaccines.

This week such a major deal was reached between Johnson & Johnson and Merck, for Merck to manufacture the COVID-19 vaccine offered by Johnson & Johnson. This was important and historic.

Both companies should be applauded for this deal. President Biden should be applauded for his role advancing it. I would again call on Pfizer and Moderna to reach similar licensing deals with other drug companies to mass produce far more of their vaccines for Americans. Members of the House and Senate who know these companies should not be shy about contacting them to suggest this.

As the surge in vaccines continues to grow, it will be much easier for citizens who want to be vaccinated to get appointments. As this escalates through March and April there should be a further decline in COVID-19 cases, a further improvement in the American and world economies, a dramatic improvement in the health and financial well-being of Americans, and a resurgence of public confidence and American optimism.

As the 2022 midterm elections come closer, there are high odds that Biden will be riding a wave of public popularity building on his already high levels of popularity. It would not be surprising if some Democratic consultant is already conceiving a television ad about the “Morning in America” under Biden, which is the ultimate contrast of public opinion towards President Trump and the image he presented to the nation at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) meetings.

While Biden was working to increase vaccinations, Trump at CPAC was attacking his Republican enemies, defying truth and public opinion by falsely claiming he won the 2020 election, and reliving the mistakes that led Republicans to lose the House, Senate and presidency during Trump’s four years in the White House.

Biden’s popularity for every day of his presidency has been significantly higher than Trump’s popularity for any single day of his presidency. At this moment Biden is advancing his COVID-19 relief bill that is hugely popular with voters, while Republicans are aggressively opposing it. Trump at CPAC attacking a list of Republicans does no service to his party, while Biden advancing major economic relief wins applause from a large majority of voters.

It is no exaggeration that the odds are high that Americans will be rejoicing as COVID-19 recedes, the economy dramatically recovers, and the midterm elections come closer, the phrase “Morning in America” under Biden becomes widely discussed as it was under President Reagan.

Prediction: at some point between Memorial Day and July 4, Biden will give a profoundly uplifting address to a joint session of Congress at the Capitol — the exact opposite of the disgraceful riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.

Prediction: when COVID-19 further recedes, Biden will have an enormously successful meeting with our NATO and democratic allies in Europe, and might well give a widely applauded speech for democracy at the site of the old Berlin Wall — the exact opposite of Trump’s bitterly divisive relations with NATO allies.

Prediction: after the COVID-19 bill passes, and Americans receive relief checks, and funding for vaccines increases, and COVID-19 cases fall further, and our economic recovery surges — a Biden midterm Morning in America will describe politics in America in 2022.

Budowsky was an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives. He holds an LLM in international financial law from the London School of Economics.