President Joe Biden’s three-minute video announcing his reelection bid Tuesday was his official ask to voters for another four years in office. Yet the video made almost no mention, at least in the voiceover, of what he’s done in office so far.
Yes, there were images of infrastructure projects funded by the law he signed and footage of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom he named to the Supreme Court.
But overwhelmingly his message was one of warning: that Republicans stand ready to repeal rights and inflict damage if allowed to return to the White House.
Even if that’s his principal argument, Biden will still be forced to account for his first-term record over the course of the next 18 months.
Here is a look at how his accomplishments stack up to the campaign promises he made in 2020.
Nothing is likely to determine Biden’s chances of reelection more than how Americans feel about the economy. It’s consistently voters’ top issue, and one on which they give Biden mixed marks. “Our economic plan is working,” he told a union conference Tuesday. “We now have to finish the job.”
Promise: Create millions of jobs in manufacturing, caregiving and other industries.
Record: As of this month, the economy had created more than 12 million jobs, in part due to a post-Covid bounce back. Over the past 12 months, the labor market has seen a net gain of more than 4.1 million jobs, averaging 345,417 jobs gained, per month, helping drop the unemployment rate to decades-low levels. The strong labor market, however, has been accompanied by high inflation – which has weighed on Biden’s approval rating.
Promise: Roll back Trump tax cuts
Record: Biden fell short of repealing Trump-era tax cuts after failing to gain enough support for key elements of his tax plan, like raising the corporate tax rate to 29%….
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