‘There are many people who use the term’ victory round ‘in a derogatory way. I’ve heard people say that Biden is on the verge of taking a victory. “Well, that’s a lot of shit,” said Jim Clyburn (DS.C.), a close ally of Biden. ‘One of the – if not the biggest’ mistakes Obama made in my opinion was to have the recovery law done and not explain to people what he did. ‘
Biden and top administration officials have acknowledged that they will have to do more to ensure that the benefits of their package fall under public awareness. And for weeks, they have been carefully planning how best to start while consuming most of the country through the pandemic. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that once the US rescue plan is signed, “we will have to do some work and use our best voices.”
Part of the White House strategy before the Covid package was implemented was to avoid the story distractions that Biden can sometimes create in less guarded moments. This is one reason why the White House has so far avoided placing Biden before reporters for more in-depth questioning.
The upcoming sales work will require Biden to take a new stance: fewer text events and private affairs with lawmakers, more interaction with the press and appearing before the public. This will give the president the opportunity to make more emotional pursuits, such as showing that older family members can finally get along with their grandchildren.
BIden enters this new phase in an enviable position. Support for coronavirus legislation is sky high, as is confidence in the president’s handling of the pandemic.
“I think they’re starting from a very popular place,” said Robert Gibbs, Obama’s press secretary, when the 44th president passed his own recovery bill. ‘This legislation from the vote seems more popular than the bill of 2009. The real question is now the driving force They need to remind people as often as possible of what is in it for them. This is the basis of what they are going to tackle in four years. ‘
Although administrative officials have carefully avoided the bill in the context of future elections, the top Democrats say the two are intertwined. Dan Pfeiffer, a former senior Obama official, suggested the challenge for the Biden White House as the start of the 2022 election campaign.
In a report over the weekend, Pfeiffer argued that the Democrats’ struggle in the mid-2010 period was not a lack of effort from Obama. His former boss, he said, gave speech after speech on factory floors that had reopened, but it was nearly impossible for the then president to break through the deluge of bad economic news at the time.
While the benefits of Biden’s bailout plan are more specific and easy to understand than Obama’s recovery – and the whole package is better – Pfeiffer told POLITICO that the challenges facing the current White House are the same as they were in 2009. encountered. “How do you balance selling the thing you have accomplished by pushing the things you still want to achieve in a media environment with little or no attention?” He asks.
One suggestion Pfeiffer made was to ‘flood the zone’ with videos, maps and graphs of ‘good news’ around the legislation.
White House officials said they plan to build on the approaches they have taken over the past few weeks to grow their support for the plan. This includes addressing the issue directly to Americans through interviews with local media and by leveraging the coalition of groups and leaders who have endorsed the rescue plan. So far, more than 400 two-party mayors and governors have said; officials in organized labor and the business community; economists and other experts spoke favorably about the package.
Among external organizers, the effort will involve highlighting provisions in the bill that receive less attention than the checks, school funding and vaccine fees. Trade union leaders and their Democratic allies pointed to a $ 86 billion aid package that would prevent pension plans from collapsing with more workers. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), who is campaigning for its inclusion, said it would not only protect these pensions, but that it would stimulate our local economy and prevent a major bailout that would cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. . nothing. ”
Phil Smith, head of government affairs at United Mine Workers of America, said that while their workers had their pensions suspended in 2019, the rescue plan provided a ‘back-stop’ to protect their retirement accounts, listing it along with other wish list items which the union plans to play internally, as well as the social media channels.
“It’s such a distinctive achievement that we’re been working on for over a decade,” Smith said. “It’s big.”
They have also welcomed extensive benefits that will soon begin to flow to thousands of unemployed miners. Other union leaders have said that unemployed members whose families are suffering from the pandemic will be made aware of their eligibility for COBRA subsidies to help them afford health care.
“Trade unions are often in a position to explain to our members that after we fight, and after we mobilize, the negotiators come back and that’s not all we wanted,” said Damon Silvers, AFL policy director. CIO, said. “President Biden’s American rescue plan is one of those extraordinary moments when it’s not really true.”
“That’s what we fought for – straight.”
However, the most popular aspect of the plan is the money that will go directly into the pocket of people. And while Biden and Surrogate plan to advertise the $ 1.9 billion bill to the states, they will have the potential of a family of four to receive $ 8,200 direct benefits.
Unite the Country, a pro-Biden super-PAC, plans to make its own effort to bolster the rescue plan through digital and TV ad purchases in the 2022 battlefield, a committee official told POLITICO said.
And more allied political groups are very close to preparing their PR campaigns.
But, as Psaki confirmed to reporters on Tuesday, there is a limit to how much promotion the White House will do. Officials in particular will not put Biden’s name on the checks. This is a break from former President Donald Trump, whose payments were approved by Congress last year. It was a first for any president, but Psaki argued that it was unnecessary if the relief was large.
“I do not think you need to do that,” Gibbs said. “If it was the big winner, we would still have President Trump. I think Americans just want the checks to be paid in. ‘
Sam Stein contributed to this report.