Tuesday’s midterm elections are also a vote on US President Joe Biden (79): Voters like to use the so-called midterms halfway through a president’s term to deal with the ruling party.
Biden, who has been in power since early 2021, has struggled with poor approval ratings for more than a year. Surveys show that only about 40 percent of voters are satisfied with his job. A summary of his presidency to date:
Company
A multi-billion dollar aid package launched in spring 2021 has made an important contribution to cushioning the economic effects of the corona pandemic and getting the economy back on track. Unemployment fell rapidly, the unemployment rate is now back at 3.5 percent, the lowest level in 50 years.
However, as the economy recovered from the impact of the pandemic and faced international supply chain challenges, consumer prices also rose faster than in many other countries. A development that was given a new impetus by the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, especially because of rising petrol prices.
US inflation, meanwhile, reached a 40-year high of 9.1 percent. While it has recently fallen to 8.2 percent, it hasn’t allayed many people’s dismay. According to polls, inflation is the number one problem for voters – and that is hurting Biden’s Democrats a lot ahead of the election.
reforms
Biden, who came out with an ambitious reform agenda, had a hard time right from the start: Since opposition Republicans in the Senate have a blocking minority, they can block most bills in Congress. Despite many setbacks, Biden managed to achieve some successes: a year ago Congress approved a major infrastructure package and in August, after a long delay, a huge climate protection and social package that was significantly slimmed down compared to the original plans.
Biden was unsuccessful in other areas: Reform to combat police brutality against blacks stalled in the Senate, as did electoral law reform. And despite a spate of shocking gun strikes, Congress passed only a minimal tightening of the gun law in June. Biden also watched helplessly as the US Supreme Court in June abolished the nationwide right to abortion that had been in place for nearly 50 years.
Foreign and Security Policy
After Biden’s predecessor Donald Trump (76) went it alone during his tenure and repeatedly alienated his Western allies, Biden initiated a return to a more traditional foreign policy. He relied on international cooperation and worked to rebuild transatlantic relations.
But with Afghanistan’s chaotic withdrawal and the return of the radical Islamist Taliban to power in Kabul in August 2021, Biden suffered a major setback. The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine subsequently led to the biggest crisis in Europe since World War II. The United States had warned of an imminent Russian invasion of Ukraine like no other country — and is now among the main supporters of the Kiev government.
Biden also targeted increasingly powerful rival China, but so far with no tangible results. Efforts to revive the international nuclear deal with Iran have stalled.
corona
A determined fight against the corona pandemic was one of Biden’s key campaign promises. The rapid progress of the vaccination campaign raised hopes that the pandemic would end soon – but it was quickly dashed: the US was hit by the delta variant in the summer of 2021 and the omicron variant in the winter, leading to to record numbers of infections.
By now, most American citizens have come to terms with the coronavirus. There are almost no more corona restrictions, even though hundreds of people continue to die every day as a result of infection. Unlike in the 2020 election campaign, the pandemic plays almost no role this time.