Thinking small: Biden scrounges for ways to break through
By CHRIS MEGERIAN and ZEKE MILLER
WASHINGTON (AP) — With his sweeping domestic agenda on hold and images of horror in Ukraine dominating headlines, President Joe Biden is scrounging for ways to demonstrate that he’s still making progress for Americans at a time when many feel the country is heading in the wrong direction.
Six months out from the midterm elections, Biden’s team is betting that smaller, discrete announcements can break through to voters better than talk of transformational plans that are so far only aspirational. And as the global focus is on Ukraine, the White House is eager for Americans to see Biden tackling the kitchen table issues important to them –- none more so than the searing inflation exacerbated by the Russian invasion.
Last week, that meant aides positioned big rigs outside the White House so Biden could talk about efforts to get more truck drivers on the road. A day later, he welcomed back former President Barack Obama for the signing of an executive order updating the Affordable Care Act. And after that, he signed bipartisan legislation intended to safeguard the U.S. Postal Service’s financial future.
This week, he’s notching his heaviest domestic travel in months. On Thursday, he visited Greensboro, North Carolina, to highlight his plans to boost domestic supply chains and high-tech workforces at North Carolina A&T State University. It comes after a Tuesday stop in Iowa to announce that his administration was granting a waiver to allow more ethanol in gasoline year-round, a move that officials estimated would shave 10 cents per gallon off gasoline prices — but at just 2,300 gas stations out of the nation’s more than 100,000.
The White House says the public focus on the war in Ukraine is “understandable” and it’s realistic about the challenges facing Biden in breaking through.
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https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-ketanji-brown-jackson-biden-barack-obama-europe-77d3c6ba4b761b979f30092b836295aa
