Biden eyes White House shakeup amid walkbacks, plummeting poll numbers: report 

 

Walkback Walensky, that's been my nickname for her since her first months.

Faced with a worsening political predicament, President Joe Biden is pressing aides for a more compelling message and a sharper strategy while bristling at how they’ve tried to stifle the plain-speaking persona that has long been one of his most potent assets.

Biden is rattled by his sinking approval ratings and is looking to regain voters’ confidence that he can provide the sure-handed leadership he promised during the campaign, people close to the president say.

Crises have piled up in ways that have at times made the Biden White House look flat-footed: record inflation, [They told us the U.S. economy was too big for inflation, then that inflation was a rich man's problem.] high gas prices, [That was a consequence of their sanctions on Russia, which I support, but they didn't explain the consequences well to the American people and they still do not have an endgame in the Russia-Ukraine war. They get tunnel vision and don't think actions through.] a rise in Covid case numbers [They were caught flat-footed by 1) breakthroughs 2) waning vaccine efficacy. Anybody heard when a new vaccine is coming out? No. 3) Delta and Omicron]— and now a Texas school massacre that is one more horrific reminder that he has been unable to get Congress to pass legislation to curb gun violence. Democratic leaders are at a loss about how he can revive his prospects by November, when midterm elections may cost his party control of Congress. 

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 Amid a rolling series of calamities, Biden’s feeling lately is that he just can’t catch a break. “Biden is frustrated. If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” said a person close to the president.

The American people are frustrated.

An assumption baked into Biden’s candidacy was that he would preside over a smoothly running administration by dint of his decades of experience in public office. Yet there are signs of managerial breakdowns that have angered both him and his party.

Biden is annoyed that he wasn’t alerted sooner about the baby formula shortage and that he got his first briefing in the past month, even though the crisis had long been in the making. (The White House didn’t specify when Biden got his first briefing on the formula shortage.) His nominee to head the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Robert Califf, told Congress last week that the agency was sluggish and that it had made “suboptimal” decisions as parents hunted for formula on empty store shelves.

 

Beyond policy, Biden is unhappy about a pattern that has developed inside the West Wing. He makes a clear and succinct statement — only to have aides rush to explain that he actually meant something else. The so-called clean-up campaign, he has told advisers, undermines him and smothers the authenticity that fueled his rise. Worse, it feeds a Republican talking point that he’s not fully in command.

The issue came to a head when Biden ad-libbed during a speech in Poland that Russian President Vladimir Putin “cannot remain in power.” Within minutes, Biden’s aides tried to walk back his comments, saying he hadn’t called for Putin’s removal and that U.S. policy was unchanged. Biden was furious that his remarks were being seen as unreliable, arguing that he speaks genuinely and reminding his staff that he’s the one who is president.

Asked about the staff’s practice of clarifying Biden’s remarks, the official said: “We don’t say anything that the president doesn’t want us to say.”

So now we have a conflict in what is reported here Biden is frustrated about and his staff clarifying that he has nothing to be frustrated with them about. Lovely.

Biden has vented to aides about not getting credit from Americans or the news media for...Unemployment rates have dropped to below 4 percent — pre-pandemic levels — but polling indicates most Americans believe the economy is in bad shape. Blaming voters for not giving you credit--how often has that worked as a political strategy? Never.] Biden grouses that Republicans aren’t getting their share of the blame for legislative gridlock in Congress, while he’s repeatedly faulted for not getting his agenda passed. 

Dude, Oh God. Why would voters blame Republicans when you have control of the executive and both branches of the national legislature. If you had kept Manchin and Synema, two Democrats in line, you would have gotten everything you asked for.

Biden sees exodus of Black staffers and some frustration among those who remain

The White House is historically diverse. But there are concerns internally about a wave of departures and the current culture.

At least 21 Black staffers have left the White House since late last year or are planning to leave soon. Some of those who remain say it’s no wonder why: They describe a work environment with little support from their superiors and fewer chances for promotion.

The departures have been so pronounced that, according to one current and one former White House official, some Black aides have adopted a term for them: “Blaxit.”