While Biden sought to consolidate his fading support among young progressives this spring, by forgiving student loan debt against the wishes of moderate voters and positioning the election as a fight for democracy, Democratic Senate candidates were trying to solidify their image with center-left and center-right voters they will need in battleground states.
Brown, on television, touted the bipartisan effort to attract semiconductor manufacturing to Ohio, but did not mention Biden by name. The president was instrumental in passing the bill, known as the CHIPS Science Act. In an ad airing in Nevada, Democratic Senator Jacky Rosen promotes herself as “one of the most bipartisan senators” who worked with both parties to help veterans exposed to toxic incinerators in Iraq. Biden again made no mention of one of his signature legislative achievements, the PACT Act.
Even better is a recent Casey ad in Pennsylvania, in which hardhat-wearing workers declare, “Our government has turned its back on us and is using Chinese steel to build our infrastructure,” adding, “Bob Casey said absolutely not.” Viewers could be forgiven for concluding that “our government” is Biden’s government, even though the president rammed through a “Buy American” steel provision in his infrastructure bill.
But campaign officials on both sides caution against overinterpreting the policies, communications skills and strategic maneuvering of Senate Democrats. Their biggest advantage is far more obvious: Democratic senators up for reelection in Montana, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have the power of incumbency to help them against much less well-known Republican challengers.
And that may be the most important thing.
“We’re so busy, we don’t pay attention to politics,” said Shelley Nelson, 70, who co-owns Huff Nell Sands Farm, which hosted Sunday’s dairy breakfast, with her husband, Larry Nelson, 69. But she added of Baldwin, “I think she’s doing a great job.”
