Biden And Harris Both Cite The Economy As A Success — But Voters Believe Harris More

WASHINGTON — The same economic statistics, essentially the same economic message — the only difference is that Vice President Kamala Harris is having considerably better success selling them to Americans as she runs for president than did her boss and the sitting president, Joe Biden.

Both point out that the economy is in far better shape than when they took office in early 2021, when the country was still emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic. Both point to the benefits of legislation such as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act. Both agree that more needs to be done to lower costs for food and housing.

Yet when Biden was still running for reelection, Americans gave his handling of the economy a rating in the 30s, which accounted for much of his polling deficit against GOP rival Donald Trump, the coup-attempting former president who was recently convicted of multiple felonies.

Harris, now the Democratic presidential nominee after Biden dropped out in July, in contrast is polling much better on that same issue, eliminating most of Trump’s advantage.

What had been a 14-point gap between Biden and Trump on who would better handle the economy in a USA Today poll from June is down to a 6-point gap, 51% to 45%, among likely voters in one released Tuesday.

“Packaged differently and different messenger,” said Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried, who has campaigned on behalf of both Biden and Harris in the past several months. “And she just sounds more relatable on the struggles of families.”

Sarah Longwell, a Republican political consultant and Trump critic who has been conducting focus groups of Trump and Biden voters for years, said part of the difference is that Harris is simply better at campaigning.

“She’s a significantly more effective communicator,” Longwell said. “And also she’s not defensive on behalf of the economy, so she’s able to talk more about what she’s going to do for the middle class going forward than focusing on what’s already been done.”

Longwell added: “Plus they called it ‘Bidenomics’ when people still felt like inflation was out of control. So she doesn’t own the bad stuff in the way Biden does.”

Biden, Harris and anyone else defending the state of the economy today, for that matter, have good facts on their side. Using common metrics like gross domestic product growth, unemployment rates and even inflation rates, the economy is now the same or better than what it was under Trump before the pandemic-induced downturn in 2020, with the exception of interest rates. Those remain high, but could start falling if the Federal Reserve Board follows through on hints from its previous meeting and starts cutting them.

But because prices for groceries and housing have not fallen to prepandemic levels — which would require deflation, a condition that accompanies serious economic calamities — Americans remain somewhat unhappy about the cost of living.

Harris, though, has been able to make the case that Biden and his administration did a good job and that she would be the best one to carry that progress forward far better than Biden ever could.

Steve Schale, a Florida Democratic consultant who has worked with a pro-Biden super PAC for years, said that a big factor is the 22 years that separate the two.

“Fair or unfair, age drove everything with Biden,” he said. “You’d see it in focus groups. Even when folks would give him credit on things, it would go back to his age. I also think that is why his numbers have improved a bit since announcing he was not running: Folks no longer viewing it through that lens.”

The 81-year-old president, for his part, is still hoping to persuade Americans that things are better than they were, and that it was his leadership that helped bring this about. On Tuesday, he staged a videoconference with some of those who have benefited from his policies, including finding money for roads and bridges as well as reducing prescription drug prices.

“We’ve gone from economic crisis to the strongest economy in the world, literally,” he said from an auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building across an alley from the West Wing. “Thousands of cities and towns all across America are seeing the great American comeback story, whether they’re in red states or blue, all part of what we’re calling an ‘Invest in America’ agenda.”

Over the next months, Biden is set to take that message on the road around the country, starting Thursday in Wisconsin.

The U.S. is vastly better off now than it was when Biden took over from Trump, top White House adviser Tom Perez told reporters Tuesday. “The purpose of this tour is to remind people,” he said.