US President Joe Biden disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at Los Angeles International Airport in California, October 12, 2022.
WASHINGTON — The 30 elected officials from Michigan who showed up to the White House on Wednesday were feted by Vice President Kamala Harris, infrastructure czar Mitch Landrieu and Keisha Lance Bottoms, director of the Office of Public Engagement.
The event was a small part of the White House’s effort to boost Democrats’ morale, which has been battered by intractable challenges — the coronavirus, war in Ukraine — and exacerbated by ominous Republican messaging on crime and inflation.
It is the kind of effort the Obama administration never undertook after its $787 billion economic stimulus passed in 2009, instead allowing Republicans to define the plan as profligate. Biden, who was Barack Obama’s vice president, resolved not to make the same mistake when it came to his own accomplishments.
Biden’s low approval ratings, however, suggest that many Americans are either unaware of his accomplishments or unconvinced of their significance, which may explain why the White House is turning to local officials — and the outlets that cover them.