Why Is Biden Moving To The Political Center? – By Nathaniel Rakich and Tony Chow (FiveThirtyEight) / Mar 23 2023
TRANSCRIPT
Nathaniel Rakich: Joe Biden is racing toward the political center. First, reports surfaced that his administration may resume detaining immigrant families who cross the border illegally. Then he came out in favor of blocking a Washington, D.C., law that would have reduced the penalties for certain crimes. Finally, he approved a massive new oil drilling project in Alaska that’s ardently opposed by environmentalists. So today we’re asking the question that a lot of progressive Democrats are asking themselves too: What’s the deal with Biden’s move to the center?
I can’t read Biden’s mind, but I suspect he’s doing this to improve his chances in the 2024 election. Biden hasn’t yet officially announced his reelection campaign, but moves like this leave little doubt that he’s running again. His approval rating is around 44 percent, according to FiveThirtyEight’s average. So he’s got to put in the reps to pump those numbers up.
Now, a lot of the people who disapprove of Biden are Republicans, and he’s never going to win most of their votes. But he could win over independents — and according to a February poll from Morning Consult/Politico, 43 percent of registered voters who identify as independent think Biden is too liberal.
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