Before Ukraine became the big story, the centerpiece of the Biden State of the Union address was supposed to be the declaration that the war on COVID had finally been won.
Of course the war had not been won. The rapid collapse of mask mandates is not the result of some massive breakthrough in science, it’s the result of polling which firmly established that the majority of the country was sick and tired of the public health security state. And those polls followed severe political defeats in elections, particularly Virginia, brought on by the bottomless greed of teachers’ unions which insisted on shutting down schools. That’s not a plan, it’s a retreat.
Biden can’t point to any elements of planning which made up the supposed victory. All he can do is lay claim to the collapse of regulations and mandates in the face of increasing public dissatisfaction.
But even beyond that, Biden, as always, is hedging his bets. Despite his propensity for rash rhetoric and spewing incomprehensible word salads, somewhere along the way Biden became abundantly cautious. From his basement campaign to his disastrous retreat from Afghanistan, Biden hedges and tries to play it safe. While some of his advisors want to declare victory, others are legitimately concerned a new variant may completely trash the reopening and any declaration of victory may become another ‘mission accomplished’ moment.
Which approach will Biden take? Count on him to try and split the difference and come away with nothing.
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