5 min listen
April 1, 2022: Biden’s sophomore slump
April 1, 2022: Biden’s sophomore slump
ratings:
Length:
8 minutes
Released:
Apr 1, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Description
For President Joe Biden, this was one of those weeks that demonstrated
the limits of the powers of the presidency.
Political scientists often like to rib pundits and the public for having
a so-called “Green Lantern” view of the presidency, a theory defined by
Dartmouth’s Brendan Nyhan as “the belief that the president can achieve
any political or policy objective if only he tries hard enough or uses
the right tactics."
In reality, presidents operate under enormous constraints that often
make them seem feckless in the face of intractable problems.
The news at the end of this week makes it clear that Biden has entered
the “long slog” period of his first term. The bold ambitions of year one
have been downsized. And even with more modest goals, unifying Democrats
in Congress has become tougher — and winning over Republicans harder —
than ever. Many problems, like inflation, don’t have readily available
solutions. And even when Biden is able to act, like on immigration, his
choices are politically perilous.
Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: The midterms will be won in the suburbs
Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.
the limits of the powers of the presidency.
Political scientists often like to rib pundits and the public for having
a so-called “Green Lantern” view of the presidency, a theory defined by
Dartmouth’s Brendan Nyhan as “the belief that the president can achieve
any political or policy objective if only he tries hard enough or uses
the right tactics."
In reality, presidents operate under enormous constraints that often
make them seem feckless in the face of intractable problems.
The news at the end of this week makes it clear that Biden has entered
the “long slog” period of his first term. The bold ambitions of year one
have been downsized. And even with more modest goals, unifying Democrats
in Congress has become tougher — and winning over Republicans harder —
than ever. Many problems, like inflation, don’t have readily available
solutions. And even when Biden is able to act, like on immigration, his
choices are politically perilous.
Listen to Playbook Deep Dive: The midterms will be won in the suburbs
Raghu Manavalan is the Host of POLITICO's Playbook.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.
Released:
Apr 1, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode
Titles in the series (100)
Nov. 19, 2021: After months of wrangling, what’s another few hours?: If a “New York minute” is a few passing seconds, then the opposite is a “McCarthy minute” — something that drags on and on for hours. On Thursday night, at 8:38 p.m., House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy took to the House floor with a speech designed to delay Democrats’ passage of the Build Back Better package. This morning, at 5:10 a.m., some 8 hours and 32 minutes later, he finally stopped talking. by POLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing