Biden’s communications 101: Change the subject to jobs
by Amie Parnes - 08/11/22 5:30 AM ET
President Biden has spent months playing defense on the economy, at times over-explaining inflation as he’s sought to put the blame on supply chain issues and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
But with less than three months until the midterm elections, political observers say he can turn around his economic messaging woes with a four-letter word: jobs.
“It’s truly the greatest jobs market in the history of our country,” said Tony Fratto, an economic policy consultant who served as deputy press secretary during the George W. Bush White House. “It’s a rip-roaring jobs market.”
“They cannot win on inflation because it’s there and people are upset about it so if you can’t win the argument, change the subject,” said Fratto, who also took to Twitter to blast the advice to the White House. “It’s communications 101. … And this isn’t that hard to do. These are alley-oop dunks.”
One Democratic strategist agreed with Fratto’s assessment, explaining that Biden should be leading every speech with that message.
“They’ve butchered the narrative on this,” the strategist said. “Why not build some events around this ASAP? Kick off every speech with it. Put it on billboards. Shout it from the rooftops. Everything and anything.”
Biden has been working to finalize congressional approval of a measure on taxes, health care and climate called the Inflation Reduction Act, which Democrats say will be helpful in the long term.
The fact that the deal came together and was approved by the Senate on Sunday is part of a hot streak of sorts for the president, who has seen gas prices fall while racking up a series of legislative wins.
On Wednesday, a labor report showed that while inflation remains high on an annual basis, consumer prices remained the same from June to July. Biden, in speech at the White House, said it demonstrated “some signs that inflation may be beginning to moderate.”
“People were still hurting, but zero inflation last month,” he said.
The developments are all positive news and fantastic timing for Democrats who have been worried about the midterm elections. A Reuters-Ipsos poll even showed Biden’s approval rating rising two points to 40 percent.
Still, Biden acknowledged in his Wednesday remarks that more work needs to be done. And he has struggled to win the support of Americans, particularly when it comes to economic issues.
A CNN poll showed that 30 percent of respondents approve of Biden’s handling of the economy and just 25 percent approve of his handling of inflation. The poll showed that 75 percent of those surveyed said inflation and cost of living was the most important economic issue to their families — an increase of more than 30 percent since last summer.
Republicans have tried to dominate the narrative, seeking to blame Biden ahead of the midterm elections for the rising costs.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3596300-bidens-communications-101-change-the-subject-to-jobs/
