More good news for Biden—and the American people.

January 26, 2024

Thursday brought a raft of good news for President Biden—and the American people. Meanwhile, Mitt Romney admitted that Senate Republicans were abandoning border and immigration reform because Trump wants to preserve a campaign issue rather than reach a solution. Finally, Trump tried—but failed—to convince the Republican National Committee to crown him as the “presumptive nominee.” Let’s take a look at the leading stories.

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US Economy grew at a “shockingly good” pace last quarter—as inflation remained low.

Economists were expecting a 1.5% growth rate in the 4th quarter of 2023. Instead, “the economy rose at a seasonally and inflation-adjusted annualized rate of 3.3% from October through December.” See CNN Business, US economy grew at a shocking pace in the fourth quarter.

The headlines were uniformly good. Biden listed a series of positive headlines in a speech in Wisconsin—headlines that included phrases such as “What recession?” in WSJ, “US Shatters Expectations,” in Politico, “US Economy Boomed in 2023” in Washington Post, and “Economy continues to soar,” in NPR.

America stands alone in world economies that have managed to maintain strong post-pandemic growth while taming inflation. A senior banking industry analyst (Ted Rossman) said the 4th quarter GDP was “sort of a Goldilocks report.”

More importantly, a growing economy with decreasing inflation is good for the American people. But, as always, people conflate and confuse growth in GDP and “the cost of groceries.” In my email inbox today, a reader noted that mortgages are still expensive and credit card debt is at record levels.

While neither of those metrics is directly related to GDP or inflation, Biden addressed the indirect linkage between economic growth and middle class feelings about the economy. In his speech in Wisconsin, Biden said,

The story of the middle class is not separate from the state of the economy.

Still, other metrics indicate that the general improvement in the economy is helping tens of millions of Americans. On Thursday, other reports brought welcome news:

• Median rents in the US fell for the eighth month in row based on a boom in new apartments. (Per Bloomberg.)

• A record number of Americans—21 million—signed up for health coverage under the Affordable Care Act. As President Biden noted, 9 million more Americans have secured coverage under the ACA during his tenure as president. See Statement from President Joe Biden on the Record-Breaking 2024 Open Enrollment Period Under the Affordable Care Act | The White House.

Biden capped the day by speaking in Superior, Wisconsin at the site of the Blatnik Bridge, which will be rebuilt with funds from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act passed in November 2021. Biden noted that while his predecessor promised an illusory and ever-receding “infrastructure week,” the Biden administration has delivered an “infrastructure decade.” See NYTimes, Taking on Trump, Biden Promotes ‘Infrastructure Decade’ in Wisconsin.

Biden’s speech is linked below, and I recommend watching a few of minutes of the video. Biden is relaxed, friendly, fit, and positive in tone—a marked contrast to the angry, sweaty, incoherent speech Trump delivered after the New Hampshire primary. See President Biden Delivers Remarks On Bidenomics During Event In Wisconsin - YouTube.

The economic reports announced today are undeniably good news for all Americans. And the Biden administration is promoting them in an aggressive and timely manner. Things are looking good.

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A signal in the noise in the New Hampshire outcome.

A persistent but suspect narrative in the media is that “polling” shows that Biden is in danger of “losing” the youth vote to Trump. While no one should take the youth vote for granted, the actual votes in New Hampshire provide a clue that suggests the media narrative is wrong.

In major college towns in New Hampshire, Joe Biden’s percentage of the Democratic vote was consistently higher than his statewide average. For example, in Hanover—home to Dartmouth—Biden captured 79% of the Democratic vote, compared to his statewide average of 64%. See Adam Carlson’s post on Twitter.

Conversely, Trump underperformed in college towns in New Hampshire and Iowa. In those towns, Trump averaged 30% of the vote, compared to 55% statewide. See Adam Carlson tweet here: Let's talk about the youths.

While the data is not conclusive, if Trump had performed better in college towns than his statewide average or Biden performed worse, the media would be blaring headlines about Biden being “in trouble” with young voters. But when voting patterns don’t support the media narrative about Biden supposedly losing the youth vote, we hear crickets from the media.

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Watch this video of Senator Mitt Romney condemning Republicans for abandoning the border bill.

A reporter asked Senator Mitt Romney what he thought about reports that Trump asked Republicans to withdraw their support for the proposed immigration and border bill. The video of Romney’s answer is linked here, and I recommend that you watch the video in its entirety. Let’s hope that the Biden campaign turns this video into a campaign ad. See Mitt Romney calls Trump's efforts to stop border resolution 'appalling' (youtube.com).

If you don’t watch the video, the gist is here, but it helps to hear Romney in his own words:

The idea that someone running for president would say, “Please hurt the country so I can blame my opponent and help my politics” is a shocking development. . . .

I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump, and the fact that he would communicate to Republican Senators and congresspeople that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem but wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.

We cannot allow anyone to tell us—or allow ourselves to believe—that the border crisis is “Biden’s fault.” It is not. The crisis at the border is a manufactured, “made-for-t.v.” spectacle brought to us by decades of intentional congressional inaction—courtesy of the Republican Party. See also, GOP senators seethe as Trump blows up delicate immigration compromise | CNN Politics.

California Governor Gavin Newsom appeared on Alex Wagner’s show on MSNBC and gave a great response to the GOP’s surrender to Trump's demands to withdraw support for the immigration bill. Check it out—and share: "Shameful."

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Trump tries to convince the RNC to run Nikki Haley out of town.

The Trump campaign is increasing pressure on Nikki Haley to drop out. He has descended to calling her “Birdbrain”—hardly a winning strategy for convincing her supporters to switch to Trump when Haley drops out. Trump wrote,

Nikki ‘Birdbrain’ Haley is very bad for the Republican Party and, indeed, our Country. Her False Statements, Derogatory Comments, and Humiliating Public Loss, is demeaning to True American Patriots.”

Anybody that makes a ‘Contribution’ to Birdbrain, from this moment forth, will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp. We don’t want them, and will not accept them, because we Put America First, and ALWAYS WILL!

Haley responded to Trump's threat by selling t-shirts that said, “Permanently Barred” and “Make America Sane Again.”

Trump continues to use mob-boss tactics to pressure Haley. His latest effort was to attempt to persuade the Republican National Committee to declare him the “presumptive nominee.” Trump is publicly telling the RNC not to pass the resolution—a sure sign that Trump couldn’t round up the necessary votes. See RNC is weighing a resolution to declare Trump its 'presumptive' nominee (nbcnews.com).

Despite Trump's pressure, it seems possible that Haley will tough it out until Super Tuesday. Liz Cheney is reportedly urging Haley to remain in the race.

A contributor to The Bulwark wrote an open letter to Haley urging her to stay in the race—and to challenge Trump more directly. See An Open Letter to Nikki Haley - by Michael Wood in The Bulwark.

Wood writes,

When, some distant day, you shuffle off this mortal coil, what will your grandchildren read in your obituary? . . . What did you do when a sitting president tried to steal an election, sent a mob to attack the people’s representatives in Congress, and pushed our country to the edge of a constitutional crisis—if not outright into one? A line from a future newspaper: “Haley then spent a year meekly using the passive voice and mumbling about deficit spending.”

Your life isn’t over and your obituary is not yet written. . . . Go to your home state and tell the truth. . . and say what you actually think: “He’s a moron. He’s a liar. He’s done grievous harm to our country. He dines with Nazis. He needs to be held accountable, both legally and politically. They’re not ‘hostages,’ they’re criminals. We don’t do dictators in America, even for a day.”

If Nikki Haley were to “tell the truth” about Trump in the final months of her failing campaign, she would do America a great favor. Perhaps a few more weeks of Trump's insults and she will begin to see the light.

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Opportunities for reader engagement.

If you live in the Los Angeles area, Swing Left West Valley will be holding its family-friendly kick-off event this weekend. Invitation below:

Please join Swing Left West Valley for their 2024 KICK-OFF in person event on Sunday, January 28 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM PT in Lake Balboa, CA.  During this free event, we will be presenting our 2024 election year strategy and announcing our Spring Slate of volunteer activities. Additionally, we will be writing postcards to support Democrat George Whitesides in swing district CA27 and writing letters to voters in NY3 to support Democrat Tom Suozzi in the special election to replace George Santos. This is a family-friendly events (kids are welcome to play while the grown-ups work on saving our Democracy). We will have delicious snacks, prizes and friendly liberal neighbors from across the San Fernando Valley.

Swing Left West Valley was founded in January 2022 with a mission to unite like-minded neighbors in the fight to preserve our democracy and empower each of them to make a meaningful impact to support Democrats in important swing races. We enjoy regular, in person, volunteer events to build our liberal community with exciting speakers, delicious food and great company! Our volunteer activities range from letter writing parties, canvassing, voter registration and phone banking, as well as unique FUNdraisers like Tarot Card readings, yoga and cake decorating classes. 

Click Here to Sign up for the Swing Left West Valley 2024 KICK-OFF Event!

A reader sent a link to an interesting opportunity for grass-roots groups to apply for grants from the American Association of People with Disabilities to support civic engagement in the disability community and improve election accessibility. See the note below:

This is a reminder that the application deadline for the REV UP 2024 small grants is in 4 days! 

These grants are to support civic engagement in the disability community and improve election accessibility. These grants are for grassroots coalitions and organizations in the disability community.

Our focus is on funding local, regional, and state-focused work. 

To apply, submit an application by 8 p.m. ET on Monday, January 29, 2024.

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Concluding Thoughts.

If you took the time to watch the video of Biden in Wisconsin today, you should feel good about his ability to wage a hard-fought campaign over the next nine months. Despite handling simultaneous international and domestic crises—serving as a negotiator in both instances—he looked relaxed, rested, fit, and composed. More importantly, he was delivering on an important campaign promise—rebuilding America’s roads and bridges.

Biden’s promise to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure is particularly important because it was also a key promise of Trump's 2016 campaign—on which Trump failed to deliver in a spectacular fashion. The comparison could not be starker.

During the first two weeks of a primary season during which Democrats did not hold a caucus or a primary, Joe Biden has not only bested Trump, but has also begun to dispel the lies and innuendo fed by GOP operatives to a willing and gullible press. It feels good to finally be engaged in the battle for the 2024 presidency. So far, we have every reason to be hopeful but no reason to be complacent!

Talk to you tomorrow!