Update….
The Bill has passed both Houses of Congress….
Seeking to ‘Go Big’ a la Trump….
The President and Vice President Harris will be doing a follow up to his signing the Almost Two Billion Dollar Stimulus and Virus money bill…
(Including trying to rename the effort ‘President Biden’s American Rescue Plan’)
Biden knows that Republicans will try to pick out parts of the bill and claim it for their own….
Biden also knows that Republican state and local officials will be happy to get the money and he wants to make sure they know who thought of the idea….
Of course he wants ALL the media attention he can get to point to him and Democrats also showing HE could something Donald Trump did NOT do….
Produce…..
Biden is scheduled to deliver his first prime-time address as president Thursday, which will focus on the Covid crisis. Later this month, he’ll hold the first press conference of his young presidency. He’s committed to making a still-unscheduled address to Congress. And officials are busy preparing for a sprawling sales campaign designed to draw attention to the benefits of the Covid-relief package. Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and others will hit the road to tout, among other things: the $1,400 checks, how billions of dollars in the bill will reopen schools, and the investments being made in increasing the numbers of vaccinations.
“There are a lot of people who use the term ‘victory lap’ in a derogatory way. I’ve already heard people saying that Biden is about to take a victory lap. Well, that’s a lot of crap,” said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), a close Biden ally. “One of the—if not the biggest—mistakes that Obama made, in my opinion, was getting the Recovery Act done and not explaining to people what he had done.”
Biden and top administration officials acknowledged they’ll have to do more to ensure the benefits of their package sink into the public’s consciousness. And they’ve spent weeks carefully planning how best to begin their efforts while much of the country remains consumed by the pandemic. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that once the American Rescue Plan is signed, “We will need to do some work and use our best voices.”
Part of the White House strategy before the Covid package passed was aimed at avoiding the kinds of storyline distractions that Biden can sometimes create in less guarded moments. That’s one reason the White House so far has avoided putting Biden in front of reporters for more in-depth questioning.
The upcoming sales job will require Biden to assume a new posture: fewer scripted events and private dealings with lawmakers, more interactions with the press and appearances before the public. That will give the president opportunities to make more emotional appeals, such as highlighting older family members finally being able to get together with their grandchildren.
BIden enters this new phase in an enviable position. Support for the coronavirus legislation is sky high, as is confidence in the president’s handling of the pandemic….