On September 5, Joe Biden, the current president, intends to journey to the remote region of southwest Wisconsin. It’s nothing more than a calculated political move, using the ruse of focusing on rural communities and small towns as a platform to peddle his so-called solutions to lower prescription drug costs, boost renewable energy, and stimulate advanced manufacturing.
Wisconsin is seen as a crucial state for the Democrats in the forthcoming November presidential race where Kamala Harris, the incumbent VP, features as their candidate. Astonishingly, in the past, Biden managed to secure Wisconsin by a paltry margin of 20,000 votes, managing to tip it just slightly into the Democratic corner in 2020 after Trump’s narrow 2016 victory.
Biden has chosen to highlight his failed and questionable inflation policies following his endorsement of Harris, marking a return to public politics after dropping out of the presidential race. This could be seen as his desperate bid to reclaim relevance following his shameful step-down from the race, with Biden and Harris planning to make a show in Pittsburgh during the Labor Day commemoration.
A survey conducted by AP VoteCast back in 2020 made an interesting revelation that roughly 50% of voters in Wisconsin came from rural landscapes and small towns. However, these demographics appear to strongly favor Trump with close to 60% of the rural and small town voters rooting for him.
It’s evident that the Democrats are banking on reducing the disparity to have a chance at claiming victory in Wisconsin this time around. Biden is hoping on riding the wave of promises from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which are yet to materialize, as a key selling point of his campaign.
Furthermore, the much-vaunted Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, heavily endorsed by Biden, proved to be a great catastrophe that did little to alleviate the rising inflation rates which have continued to tank his popularity amongst the voters.
The solution the Act promised, targeted at reducing healthcare expenses for Medicare recipients, particularly for insulin, and lofty goals of government negotiation on prescription drug prices have proven to be empty promises. The tangible impact remains to be seen with both measures doing little to uplift the plight of the people as they continue to grapple with the unabated surge in living costs.
In addition to these failed promises, the Act also purportedly incentivized the transition towards renewable energy technologies and supposedly reinforced the IRS’s capabilities to enforce tax obligations amongst the wealthy and affluent citizens of the nation. However, these promises were hollow as no appreciable impact has been felt by the populace.
Should Harris wish to have any chance of clinching a win in the upcoming presidential elections in November, it’s imperative she strikes a delicate balance to differentiate herself from Biden’s disastrous policies while also convincing voters to reject Trump’s proven track record. However, this won’t be a stroll in the park given Biden’s numerous blunders during his short stint in the White House.
Given how Biden and his policies have failed to gain traction and popularity amongst the American populace, it’s hard to envisage a feasible pathway for Harris to convince voters to shy away from reelecting Trump for another four years. It’s a tough task destined for failure.
The forthcoming election will indeed be a tough mountain for Harris to climb. Carrying the burden of Biden’s failures alongside her campaign, disassociating herself from his disastrous tenure may be nigh impossible. The probability of voters recasting their lot in Trump’s favor increases with each failed policy Biden promotes.
To say the least, the Democrats’ political strategy to secure Wisconsin again appears to be shaky. With Biden’s poor track record and dismal ratings, the reliance on such flawed promises may do more harm than good for Harris’ campaign, increasing voters’ skepticism even more.
Not to mention, the perceived focus on rural communities and small towns is little more than political maneuvering, aiming to convince such communities of their importance. Unfortunately, with Biden’s record, it’s obvious that these gestures are little more than hollow political posturing.
The upcoming November election will test how well Harris can juggle the challenge of distancing herself from Biden’s tarnished reputation while attempting to reject Trump’s formula for success. Surely, the odds are stacked against her, given the record she must run on.
Biden’s visit to Southwest Wisconsin, his push of controversial policies, and his record of failures lay a difficult groundwork upon which Harris must attempt to make her case. Under such conditions, securing a victory in the upcoming election becomes a murky prospect at best.
In conclusion, the plans of Biden and Harris to again secure Wisconsin and the White House are riddled with difficulties and are predicated on poorly thought out strategies and bad policy. It remains to be seen how Wisconsinites will respond, but if their pattern holds, they may very well prefer the stability of Trump’s leadership over the instability of Biden’s legacy and Harris’s foresight.