Has Biden Bounced Back?

It sure looks that way.

President Biden is coming off a good period in his time in office.  Unemployment is down to 3.5 percent, the the reconciliation budget bill that includes important climate and health provisions is undergoing numerous votes thanks to U.S. Senator Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) deciding to back it once the bill was tweaked to meet her demands, the PACT Act passed to help veterans affected by burn pits, Biden himself is testing negative for COVID again, he's riding high in the polls, and . . .

All right, I made up that last one.  And I did that to make a point.  My point - and I do have one - is that Biden has gotten no credit for any of these wins or reports.  That's mainly because inflation continues at an unbearable pace, no one is feeling or can expect to feel before the midterms any of the legislation about to be passed, Republicans are still within striking distance of taking back the House, and now the United States leads the world in - you guessed it - monkeypox cases. (Oh, yeah, COVID is still a problem.)  Americans are still in the same funk they've been in for over a year now.  And that's why Biden's poll numbers still stink.

Biden has to keep this new momentum going through the fall and try to address the problems with inflation and with public health in order to make change people can feel, not just believe in, if he wants to get anything done in the second half of his term.  And it's not for himself - it's to help the Democrats in the midterms, as they try to do things for the people while Republicans try to do things for Donald Trump. And the Democrats have to be ready for the next presidential election. A Republican Congress in January 2025 serving under a DeSantis or second Trump Presidency will mean the death knell for American democracy.

And yes, I still think it.  President Biden should announce - preferably at the end of his 2023 State of the Union address - that he will not seek another term.  Does anyone really want him to remain in office until January 2029, when he'll be 86?  Shouldn't a younger Democrat comparable to Biden - say, a former Maryland governor 😉 - take his place?

So - has Biden bounced back?  I'm not sure I can answer that question just yet.