Biden ends first year as president with ‘bleak, discouraging’ marks from the public

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In his inaugural address one year ago, President Joe Biden championed unity, promised a bold governing agenda and prioritized defeating the coronavirus. Now, as Biden begins his second year as president, majorities of Americans give him low marks for uniting the country, being competent and having the ability to handle a crisis, according to results from a new national NBC News poll.

What’s more, 6 in 10 disapprove of Biden’s handling of the economy, while more than half give him a thumbs-down on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic. CONTINUED

Mark Murray, NBC News

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Pandemic Pessimism Grows Amid Omicron Surge

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With the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19 infecting hundreds of thousands of Americans daily, optimism about the trajectory of the pandemic in the U.S. has fallen sharply, and worry about contracting the virus has risen to its highest level in a year. The latest update to Gallup’s COVID-19 data, from a survey conducted Jan. 3-14, finds U.S. adults’ social distancing behaviors have picked up, and the use of masks in public remains high. CONTINUED

Megan Brenan, Gallup

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Five Warning Signs for Biden as He Marks First Anniversary in Office

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Key Points
• As Joe Biden marks a year in office, he has found himself in a perilous position, and there are no obvious signs of improvement.
• Among Biden’s challenges is an apparently weakened position among nonwhite voters as well as younger voters, two immensely important pillars of the Democratic coalition.
• Inflation has re-emerged as an important problem for what appears to be the first time in decades, and Biden has work to do to persuade the public that he’s taking it seriously. CONTINUED

Kyle Kondik & J. Miles Coleman, Sabato’s Crystal Ball

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Why Millions Think It Is Trump Who Cannot Tell a Lie

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Why is Donald Trump’s big lie so hard to discredit?

This has been a live question for more than a year, but inside it lies another: Do Republican officials and voters actually believe Trump’s claim that Joe Biden stole the 2020 election by corrupting ballots — the same ballots that put so many Republicans in office — and if they do believe it, what are their motives? …

While there was considerable agreement among the scholars and strategists whom I contacted that Republican politicians consciously develop strategies to deal with what many privately recognize is a lie, there is less agreement on the thinking of Republican voters. CONTINUED

Thomas B. Edsall, New York Times

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A Year after Inauguration, Biden Faces a More Critical and Pessimistic Public

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Confidence in President Joe Biden’s ability to effectively manage the White House has declined during his first year in office. Half of Americans don’t think of Biden as a strong leader or someone who understands their needs and problems. Nonetheless, most Americans think both Biden and Vice President Harris have either exceeded or met expectations. About 4 in 10 say they haven’t met expectations. …

On the anniversary of his inauguration, Biden faces an increasingly critical and pessimistic American public. Most Americans think the country is headed in the wrong direction. CONTINUED

Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research

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Voting rights or the filibuster?

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It’s neither a bumper sticker nor a rallying cry, but it’s a fact: One cannot claim loyalty to the text, history and principles of our Constitution while valuing preservation of the filibuster above protecting voting rights. …

Writing for a Supreme Court majority, no less a conservative than Justice Antonin Scalia emphasized Congress’ ultimate authority, saying, “The power of Congress over the ‘Times, Places and Manner’ of congressional elections is paramount, and may be exercised at any time, and to any extent which it deems expedient; Times, Places, and Manner … are comprehensive words, which embrace authority to provide a complete code for congressional elections.”

Does the constitutional pedigree of the filibuster match that of voting rights? Certainly not. CONTINUED

Mark Mellman (Mellman Group), The Hill

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