Despite Low Approval and Negative Press, NYT’s David Brooks Announces ‘Biden is Succeeding’ in Buzzed-About Column

Tommy ChristopherNov 19th, 2021, 11:27 am
 

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New York Times columnist David Brooks touched off a spasm of buzz with a column that proclaimed, in the face of plunging approval ratings and heaps of negative press, that President Joe Biden “is succeeding.”

The president’s approval ratings have been falling since June, a trend that accelerated with the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and the surge of the delta variant, and a ton of negative media coverage that has included a focus on the drawn-out process that produced several legislative wins.

But in the face of all of that — and on the heels of Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure bill-signing and just hours before his Build Back Better plan passed in the House of Representatives — Brooks has pitched a flag with a blunt assessment: “Biden is Succeeding.”

In the piece, Brooks acknowledges the tide of public opinion, but writes that “If presidencies were judged by short-term popularity, the Biden effort would look pretty bad. But that’s a terrible measure.”

He goes on to argue that despite “failures” like “the shameful Afghanistan withdrawal,” Biden’s presidency “will be judged by whether it reduced inequality, spread opportunity, created the material basis for greater national unity.”

“It is doing that,” Brooks writes.

He ends the piece with some weird advice, urging Democrats not to make certain programs temporary just to “make budget numbers look good” — which is part of the wrangling that has made their passage possible.

The blunt and contrarian message created a lot of buzz among political and media types — some of whom snarkily expressed surprise at agreeing with Brooks.

Many Biden administration officials promoted the column as well, as predicted, such as White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain — who tweeted it again after Build Back Better passed the House.

Biden’s fortunes may end up having a lot to do with the fate of Build Back Better in the U.S. Senate, but thus far, the administration’s legislative wins have not translated into higher approval ratings.

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