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**OCTOBER 29, 2021**

Kuttner on TAP

Don't Count Biden and the Democrats Out

Looking beyond this week's headlines, a lot can happen between now and
November 2022.

As the budget negotiations drag on, with Biden's program stalled by a
tiny group of corporate Democrats who do not represent the overwhelming
majority of their party, a sickening feeling is setting in. The great
promise of Biden's first six months is coming apart, Republicans and
the right-wing media are gloating, and the stage is set for the usual
midterm reversal in 2022.

What might change this grim scenario? I can think of three things.

First, when the Democrats finally do agree on a budget deal, Biden can
get on with the business of governing. And even at $1.75 trillion plus
the $550 billion of new money in the bipartisan infrastructure bill,
there is a lot to appeal to the voters.

Second, the Democrats may be rescued by Donald Trump. At a time when
Republicans need the Trump base but want Trump himself to please shut
up, Trump continues to relitigate 2020 and support far-right and corrupt
candidates who will be easier for Democrats to beat in the midterm. In
Georgia, Trump pressured the rest of the Republican establishment to
endorse Herschel Walker, a former football star with no political
experience, whose former wife testified in a divorce suit that he had
threatened to "blow your f---ing brains out."

Trump will give Democrats the gift of more such candidates. And the more
that Trump is back in the limelight, the more it will energize
Democrats, embarrass Republicans, and sway independents.

Third, with the budget deal finally done and the media less focused on
divisions among Democrats, we can get back to holding Republicans
responsible for their wall-to-wall blockage of policies that most
Americans want. With Build Back Better, Biden discovered his inner FDR.
Now he needs to discover his inner Harry Truman.

In 1948, Republicans controlled both houses of Congress. Harry
Truman's approval rating was in the 30s. He was universally expected
to lose. So Truman sent Congress a Roosevelt-scale program that he knew
Republicans would vote down, and he went on the road to remind voters of
the difference between Republicans and Democrats.

"Don't vote for me," he would say. "Vote for yourselves."

They did, and Truman beat Dewey, taking back Congress with him. Yes, it
was a one-off, but history is made of one-offs. So it's much too early
to count the Democrats out for 2022-if Biden plays his hand well.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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What You Might Have Missed in the Build Back Better Bill

The bill is teeming with hundreds of programs, which in some cases
crowded out the bigger priorities. BY DAVID DAYEN

Will Biden's FDA Be Led by a Pharma Guy?

Robert Califf-who's worked and lobbied for the big drug
companies-looks to be the front-runner for the job. BY TONI AGUILAR
ROSENTHAL & FATOU NDIAYE

Altercation: Networks of Paranoia
The
interlocking directorates at the heart of the right's descent into
lunacy BY ERIC ALTERMAN

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