Biden takes economic message to Maine as Trump's legal problems persist
CNN —
Another looming indictment for former President Donald Trump. Another day on the road selling the economy for President Joe Biden.
If it seems like a pattern is emerging, it is: each time his former (and likely future) rival finds himself facing legal peril, Biden goes about a practiced routine of trumpeting his accomplishments across the country while refusing to weigh in on the courthouse developments unfolding elsewhere.
Friday’s example finds Biden in Maine, where he plans to tout manufacturing strides at a textile factory in Auburn and sign an executive order incentivizing American manufacturing of goods invented in the US.
Maine, once peppered with factories, textile mills and paper plants, has experienced a significant drop-off in manufacturing over the last several decades. The White House said the state lost more than 42,000 manufacturing jobs between 1990 and January 2021. Maine has created 1,200 new manufacturing jobs since Biden entered office – only modest growth, though the president hopes to build on it through incentives and cutting red tape.
It’s Biden’s first trip to Maine as president, and he’s planning to attend a high-dollar campaign fundraiser in Freeport while he’s here.
The visit comes after a week of positive economic news the White House says is the result of the president’s decision-making.
Long the anchor weighing down the president’s popularity, the economy has lately shown signs of improvement, from slowing inflation to hiring to steady growth to easing fears of recession.
On Thursday, government figures showed gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output, grew by an annualized, seasonally adjusted 2.4% rate in the April-through-June period. That was a faster pace than in the first three months of the year and was also above economists’ expectations.
Other economic indicators this month have similarly provided good news for Biden. Consumer sentiment tracked by the University of Michigan rose 13% in July, the second straight month of improvement. And wages are now rising faster than prices.
Those are all data points the White House now collects under the banner of Bidenomics, hoping voters will both feel the improving economy in their own lives and credit Biden for it.
The effort hasn’t yet prompted a major turnaround in Biden’s political fortunes. Polls still show voters disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy, with particularly low marks for inflation.
Biden’s team acknowledges it will take time for positive economic numbers to translate into real-world improvements and a political turnaround.
That’s why the president has been traveling weekly to talk about his economic agenda, particularly in states that could help determine next year’s presidential election.
Maine is one of two states (along with Nebraska) without a winner-take-all system for electoral votes. Biden won three of the state’s four electoral college votes in 2020, but Trump took one after winning the conservative-leaning 2nd District.
On Friday, Biden will sign an executive order prioritizing manufacturing of US-invented goods in the United States, ensuring communities reap some benefit from American innovation and supply chains aren’t beholden to foreign production.
Biden’s focus on the economy comes amid heightened legal jeopardy for Trump, who faced major new charges Thursday in the case alleging he mishandled classified documents when he left office. A separate indictment looms surrounding his efforts to cling to power in the aftermath of the 2020 election and his role in the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Iowa for a roundtable discussion on abortion rights – counter-programing to a major Republican dinner in Des Moines that will feature Trump and other Republican presidential hopefuls.
In the past, White House officials have acknowledged it will be a challenge for Biden’s economic message to break through to voters amid the noise of Trump and the heated Republican race.
Yet as Friday’s visit to Maine demonstrates, Biden will keep trying.
Source: CNN
