Biden delivers key speech on the economy in Chicago

President Biden’s bid to earn a second term in the White House begins with a concerted campaign to take credit for what he describes as a record-breaking economic upswing in America.

Mr. Biden will make that case in what his aides say is a “cornerstone” speech on Wednesday, using the backdrop of the Old Chicago Main Post Office to reaffirm the lasting benefits of “Bidenomics” as the 2024 campaign cycle heats up.

He will argue that his willingness to push the US government more directly into supporting key industries such as silicon chips has revitalized manufacturing. He will say that investing in rebuilding crumbling infrastructure paves the way for future growth. And he will insist that by spending hundreds of millions of dollars on programs like student debt relief, more people will find their way to a comfortable middle-class life.

“Since the president took office, 13 million jobs have been created,” Lael Brainard, Biden’s top economic adviser, said Tuesday. “The unemployment rate is near an all-time low, below 4 percent for the longest stretch in nearly 50 years. And we have record low unemployment for groups that have been left behind too many times.”

Bragging about Mr Biden’s economic performance is a calculated shift from the more cautious approach of his first two years, when millions of Americans were still struggling to recover from the devastating impact of the pandemic on their financial well-being.

And the positive spin from the president and his advisers largely ignores the frustrations of many Americans who continue to suffer the effects of high inflation, interest rates that make borrowing more expensive, and the cost of day-to-day expenses for necessities such as health care, child care, groceries , gasoline and more.

“While families suffer, the Biden administration is in a fantasy world, insisting that their ‘policy has indeed worked,” Tommy Pigott, a spokesman for the National Republican Committee, said in a statement Tuesday. “Americans don’t want Biden to ‘finish the job’.”

Mr Pigott cited figures showing that the price of a liter of gas remains about a dollar higher than when Mr Biden took office, despite the declines since the price shocks when Russia invaded Ukraine. He said to show figures from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association 20 million Americans are behind on their energy bills.

But government officials are betting that, with the pandemic largely in the rearview mirror, people will quickly come to appreciate the positive effect they believe the president’s policies are having on their own lives.

“I think people all over the United States of America are starting to see kicks in the grounds in their communities,” said Olivia Dalton, the White House’s deputy press secretary. “As we progress through the implementation, people will continue to feel that. They will continue to see that and they will continue to hear from this president how we will continue to make progress for them.

For now, most Americans have refused to give Mr Biden the credit he and his advisers say they deserve. Polls show that about three-quarters of those polled believe the country is on the right track under Mr Biden’s leadership. wrong track. Only about a third say they approve of his deal with the economy.

The president’s advisers say they think it will take time for two things to happen: First, Americans need to shake off the economic hangover from the pandemic. And second, they need to start feeling the benefits of Mr. Biden’s policies in action.

“People are only now beginning to see the impact of all the successes of recent years under this president’s economic agenda,” said Olivia Dalton, deputy White House press secretary.

Ultimately, Mr. Biden will have to shift his focus to the future and make specific promises to Americans about the kind of new economic policies he will pursue in a second term.

That could mean making progress on the economic commitments he had to give up when he made legislative compromises since taking office. He failed to garner enough support for his proposals to reverse former President Donald J. Trump’s tax cuts. He also dropped proposals for universal kindergarten, free community college, and heavily subsidized daycare.