President Joe Biden returns to Pennsylvania on Thursday. Biden’s economic message is now branded under the name “Bidenomics” The push to remind voters of his achievements on infrastructure, jobs and manufacturing has been underway for much of his presidency. Biden will attend a steel-cutting ceremony “for the Acadia – a vessel that will be used to help build offshore wind farms,” the White House said. The event underscores the type of jobs he has repeatedly said are a priority: Manufacturing positions that don’t require a college degree. The president still gets mostly negative marks for his handling of the economy, even after beginning the concerted Bidenomics push last month, a Monmouth University poll released Wednesday showed. The state is convenient to Washington, making it easy to schedule day trips to factories, construction sites and shipyards. It also holds a central place in Biden’s political identity and has plenty of communities of blue-collar workers Biden hopes to win over with his economic agenda. But despite his frequent returns and hometown credentials, Biden hasn’t found a wellspring of support in Pennsylvania after winning by a narrow margin in 2020, a Quinnipiac University poll found. The poll found in a hypothetical rematch with former President Donald Trump, Biden and his predecessor were statistically tied – 47% supporting Trump and 46% supporting Biden. But voters in Pennsylvania rank the economy high on their list of most important issues, followed by “preserving democracy,” an issue that’s taken enhanced importance as the special counsel investigation into Trump’s role in the January 6 riot appears to be nearing an indictment. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index rose 13% in July, the second straight month of improvement and the biggest over-month gain since 2006, according to a preliminary reading released Friday morning. The index reached its highest level since September 2021. Last week, government figures showed US annual inflation slowed to 3% in June, a sharp cooldown from June of last year, when surging energy costs helped inflation spike. And for the first time in 26 months, US workers’ real weekly earnings (a week’s worth of wages adjusted for inflation) grew on an annual basis last month. Yet a rash of positive economic signs – which also include a strong job market, solid growth and easing fears of a recession – haven’t yet translated into improved voter sentiment for Biden. And 62% said they disapproved of Biden’s handling of transportation and energy infrastructure – despite projects funded by the infrastructure bill he has championed. And 48% disapproved, even as inflation increases begin to ease, even if they’re starting to take a slower, more gradual path. The White House says Biden is set to announce “the first-ever offshore wind sale in the Gulf of Mexico” during the steel- cutting ceremony, the White house said. He will also make an argument that transitioning away from carbon-intensive fossil fuels doesn’t have to mean a loss of well-paying jobs – a message he hopes will resonate in places like Pennsylvania, where coal mining has long been a source of employment.
Biden returns to battleground Pennsylvania for the 27th time since taking office. Biden returns to sell his economic message to voters.
