Primary season is just around the corner, and along with it is sure to be a glut of political ads. It isn’t an election year without all the candidates involved slinging mud, half-truths, and dubious claims at one another. Presidential cycles are the best, or worst as the case may be. Trump versus Biden in 2020 provided almost as memorable insults and catchphrases as Trump versus Clinton did in 2016. Hillary Clinton coined one of the more memorable, and for her, unfortunate labels in years with her famous “basket of deplorables” comment that effectively villainized half of the country.
Joe Biden hasn’t been nearly as creative or successful when it comes to catchphrases. Perhaps mirroring his presidency, most of Biden’s witty sayings have been widely ridiculed and used against him. While President Trump constantly unleashes one-liners and memorable catchphrases, Biden appears to be parroting weak one-liners fed to him by an ineffective team of writers.
It isn’t as if Biden hasn’t tried. There have been would-be barbs like “Ultra Maga,” which was turned into a rallying cry by President Trump’s supporters, and dark Brandon, meant to imply that Biden has a dark, menacing side, but those fell short as well. Insults aside, some of the nomenclature devised by Biden’s handlers intended to describe or enhance the Administration’s alleged successes have also face planted.
Americans didn’t buy into “Putin’s price hike” when the Democrats blamed the crashing economy on Russia, and Biden’s most recent buzzword has also fallen flat, prompting the party to ditch it and move on. House Democrats have ditched the term “Bidenomics” as a descriptor of Joe Biden’s economy. Most Americans agree that the country is in a perilous place economically, and the Democrats have attempted to paint a pretty picture, calling it “Bidenomics.”
Current infighting within the Democratic party as to how to attempt to sell a flagging economy to an American consumer struggling to put food on the table has led to the party ditching “Bidenomics.” The outlet Axios noted: “The term is nowhere to be found in any of the House Majority PAC’s public releases and posts except for a single press release on July 31.” On cue, former President Trump and his supporters have made “Maganomics” a trending topic. It’s no surprise, considering most Americans list the economy as their number one issue, and polls show most voters trust Trump over Biden on economic issues.
During polling, the “Bidenomics” catchphrase wasn’t well received by democratic voters, either. Axios noted, “The term was seen as tone-deaf to voters still struggling economically and also invoked a president with lackluster polling numbers.” It has been reported that Biden wasn’t a fan of the phrase but ran with it anyway in an attempt to paint a brighter economic picture than what everyday Americans were actually experiencing.
Now, with the catchphrase scrubbed and an alternative in “Maganomics” growing in popularity, what Biden’s crack team of writers will come up with remains to be seen. Whatever it is, the Democrats have their work cut out for them as they try to pitch a much brighter economic outlook to a country reeling from inflation and high prices.
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