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Miracles do happen, CNN is criticising SloJo
(CNN)Nine months into Joe Biden's presidency, a White House suddenly beset on all sides feels a growing sense of urgency.
The coronavirus pandemic Biden thought he had tamed this spring continues to deny Americans a return to normal life and is disrupting the economic recovery by crimping job growth, even as it fuels higher-than-expected inflation. The harrowing withdrawal from Afghanistan has also raised doubts about his international leadership at a time of rising tensions with China.
All of it has eroded the President's public standing, slowed momentum for his domestic agenda in Congress and made the 78-year-old president appear ineffective. Leaders on Capitol Hill insist they can unite the party behind his infrastructure, social policy and climate change objectives by the end of the month, but anxious Biden aides want a faster result.
"We are going to wrap it this week, or deploy a new approach" to getting something done, a senior administration official told CNN.
The White House's impatience is fueled by the specter of losing the ability to achieve its goals for the balance of Biden's term. Democratic political strategists warn the collapse of his legislative agenda would quash the party's uphill fight to protect its razor-thin House and Senate majorities in next year's midterm elections. The President's top aides know that time is not on their side.
Two months of travails have pulled Biden's public approval ratings back to the 50% mark he had consistently exceeded during his early months in office, according to a CNN poll released Wednesday afternoon. By historical standards, the decline is not dramatic.
But the partisan polarization of contemporary politics almost never produces wide polling swings. Biden's drop so far -- from the low 50s to the mid 40s -- could make the difference between a presidential tailwind and anchor for Democratic candidates under fierce Republican attack if it persists into next year.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki downplayed concerns inside the White House when pressed by CNN's Kaitlan Collins on how Biden views the array of challenges facing his administration.
"We don't get too glum around here even if things get challenging. Our view and his view is to continue to press forward and address the challenges the American people are facing," Psaki said.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/13/politics/joe-biden-white-house-crises/index.html
