Date: 08/01/2023
Author: Mr. X
Drip, drip, drip, drip…
One of the first rules of political scandals is that if you have something on your political opponent, you don’t release it all at once.
You let it go a little bit at a time, like Chinese water torture.
You string it out.
You let it bleed into news cycle after news cycle.
Unfortunately for President Joe Biden, that’s what’s been happening to him, fairly or unfairly.
There were the various alleged misdeeds from his son Hunter Biden…
Then certain elements of the government pushing to censor reporting on those misdeeds and reporters calling it “Russian misinformation…”
Then cocaine found in the White House (which, in truth, no one has credibly linked to anyone in the Biden family or anyone else, but it let people’s imagination run away with them)
And now, finally, President Biden himself is wrapped up in it.
House investigators were told by one of Hunter Biden’s business partners that President Biden himself was on speakerphone while Hunter Biden discussed business with different clients, including various foreign oligarchs.
Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) said President Biden never discussed business. “As he described it, it was all casual niceties, the weather, what’s going on,” Goldman said. “There wasn’t a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had.”
RIPPED STRAIGHT FROM THE HEADLINES… NOW MORE IMPORTANT THAN EVER
DON’T MISS THIS ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL PRESENTATION
Of course, now we are discussing details because the president himself is involved. Does it mean anything? Maybe, maybe not. But it won’t go away now, especially since Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is discussing impeachment. If there is a rematch between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, there will be plenty of mud thrown both ways.
The real problem for President Biden is that despite his attempt to use “Bidenomics,” the American people aren’t buying it. Most Americans, according to a new CBS/YouGov poll, say there are staying in place financially, with 35% saying they are falling behind. Just 13% say they are “getting ahead.” About 7 in 10 say their income isn’t keeping place with inflation. Almost as many report that prices have been going up.
This is arguably unfair to the president. Most analysts were predicting a recession in 2023. That hasn’t happened. The stock market is on its best run in decades, especially the NASDAQ. Trade restrictions of semiconductor manufacturing equipment shipments to China are proving effective as the Chinese economy stumbles. American manufacturing is booming. Just two years after the debacle in Afghanistan, the United States is in the strongest geopolitical position since 9/11, with NATO expanded and more united, the EU firmly behind American leadership, the Anglosphere and East Asian allies combining to contain China in the Pacific, and Russia mired in a quagmire that has discredited its military.
The Consumer Price Index shows that inflation is declining – something that few would have predicted, given that the assumption was continued interest rate increases would torpedo the economy.
Yet little of this seems to matter. The CNBC All-America survey found that the percentage of Americans who say the economy is excellent or good is just 20%. This is after a six-point increase. President Biden’s approval rating was at 40% early in July, according to Reuters/Ipsos. A plurality of Americans said the economy was their biggest worry.
Barring a truly historic economic run that extends into the next year, it seems likely economic news will get worse before it gets better. That could make President Biden vulnerable at the worst possible time for his campaign, especially if scandal takes off. President Trump will likely spend a major portion of his campaign being dragged through the courts – but it will tend to even out if a GOP impeachment effort is able to draw blood.
Currently, former president Trump is ahead of President Biden in the latest Echelon Insights and Big Village polls, and trails slightly in YouGov and Morning Consult. This is at a time when President Biden may be facing the best possible circumstances. Trump’s return to the White House can’t simply be dismissed as impossible.
Mr. X is an investment analyst working in the Washington DC area who specializes in the intersection of business and public policy. After fifteen years working in politics, he writes on a classified basis for RogueInvesting.com to bring you news on what those with power are debating, planning, and doing
