Biden is moving away from the most progressive Democrats on contentious issues with his sights set on his re-election in 2024

By Sahil Kapur -

President Joe Biden is breaking with progressives on some hot-button issues ahead of launching his re-election campaign, laying the groundwork for trying to neutralize politically thorny issues Republicans hope to hurt him on.

The president has said he will sign legislation to repeal a new District of Columbia criminal law that softened mandatory penalties and sentences, drawing backlash from progressives who say the measure is sensible and changing it would undermine sovereignty from the Washington DC area

Biden, an act in Baltimore, Maryland, on March 1, 2023. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP - Getty Images

Last week, NBC News reported that the Biden Administration is considering reactivating family detention for migrants who enter the United States illegally, prompting harsh criticism from immigrant advocates already angry with the president over the adoption. of tough asylum policies that they say mirror the standards of their predecessor, Donald Trump.

The government on Monday gave the green light to the Willow mega-drilling project in Alaska, prompting pushback from environmentalists and Democrats who want to cut back on fossil fuels.

Biden's break with the left at various levels has a common denominator: he does so mainly on cultural issues in which his party is politically vulnerable, thus trying to close avenues so that Republicans do not stay with undecided voters.

The president tries to focus on economic issues that affect the middle class and where Democrats have an advantage, such as lowering drug prices and protecting Social Security.

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In last November's elections, the Democrats lost by a 48-point margin to voters who cited immigration as their main issue of concern and by a 16-point margin to those who see crime as the country's main problem, according to exit polls showed.

Voters trusted Republicans more on immigration (by six points) and security (by nine points).

“I would like to remind the Administration that they were the ones who ended family detention,” said Democratic Senator Bob Menendez.

“It would be a horrible policy to reinstate it,” he added, “there are much better ways to deal with the challenges we have at the border, including families, than that.”

Asked if reactivating family detention would affect his support for Biden in 2024, Menéndez said: "We will see how the Administration acts and then we can make judgments about it."

The White House approves the Willow oil project in an Alaskan nature reserve

March 14, 202300:33

Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, said in an interview that her members are "very frustrated" by Biden's position on reducing crime levels in Washington.

In addition, he believes that not preserving the space in which migrants can request asylum and applying a policy similar to Trump's would be "betraying our immigrant base."

Jayapal stated that he is holding talks with the government and is concerned that "there are people who are giving very bad advice" to the president.

Still, he said he supports Biden for re-election, although he will demand "better policy" in some areas.

“I still believe that in the vast majority of areas it has been great.

And he is the most progressive president we have ever had,” Jayapal stressed.

“So it doesn't change my point of view, at least right now.

I continue to believe that he has done phenomenal things for this country," he added.

The White House defends Biden's positions

Asked about progressive criticism of Biden's recent actions, White House spokesman Andrew Bates said the party remains united in its support for the president.

As an example, he cited a series of victories that have strengthened the Democrats, from the appointment of new judges to the new gun control law, through the fight against the climate emergency or medical coverage under the Medicare program.

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"President Biden's values ​​and agenda have proven to unify Congressional Democrats across the party spectrum - as well as the country in general - and are consistent with what he stood for and fought for for many years," he stressed. bats.

“These same principles galvanized Democrats when President Biden won the most votes of any candidate in history, when he led the best midterm result for a new president in decades, and now,” he said.

Republicans believe that the latest steps taken by Biden are not random, such as the bill against crime in Washington and immigration.

Some see parallels in his strategy with former Democratic President Bill Clinton's attempts to move against the left after the 1994 midterm elections.

“Well, he has said that he is running for re-election.

He looks like a guy running for re-election,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said of the president's political future.

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In her first campaign, Clinton popularized the term "Sister Souljah moment" after she aggressively repudiated the hip-hop artist's controversial comments about race.

But Biden appears to be taking a quieter, more political path.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham believes that Biden is "just following common sense" in his fight against crime.

“I think he shows that, one, he's probably running [for re-election];

and two, that it is trying to find a way to protect its members further in the center,” he explained.

"Now that they've lost the House, he's trying to do the triangulation thing, which makes sense," Graham said, "the first two years they were unabashedly very progressive, very liberal. And now you see him making an adjustment."

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Progressives give space to Biden

For now, the left seems willing to give Biden some room to position himself.

Many of Biden's former rivals or progressive skeptics support his re-election bid, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

Despite her latest moves, they are pleased with her actions on issues like student debt relief, pandemic relief, insurance network expansion and anti-gun regulations.

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Some Biden allies are outraged by criticism from some left-wing political commentators, drawing parallels with those who labeled him an outdated relic in the 2020 Democratic primary before he prevailed in the presidential race on a center-left political platform.

Even so, Biden is exposing himself by wanting to unite the Democratic base with undecided voters.

Straying too far from the party's core voters could demotivate some of them.

“I think successful presidential candidates always stray from party orthodoxy,” a senior congressional progressive adviser said, citing Trump on trade, Barack Obama's early resistance to an individual health care mandate and George's support. W. Bush to a Medicare program.