Who's the real audience for Biden's new budget?

President Biden.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Getty Images, iStock)

On Monday, the Biden administration released its proposed budget for the next fiscal year, and it shows a president and a party tracking rightward, toward the political center, just seven months out from the midterm elections. That marks a significant departure from the two most recent Democratic presidents.

Bill Clinton spent much of his first two years in office attempting, and failing, to pass health-care reform. This was followed by a wipeout in the 1994 midterms that saw Democrats losing control of the House to Republicans for the first time in 40 years. Barack Obama likewise focused on passing the Affordable Care Act during the opening years of his presidency — and then saw Democrats suffer their worst midterm losses in 62 years. Both electoral setbacks augured a shift to toward the center as both presidents began to strategize for re-election two years later.

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Damon Linker

Damon Linker is a senior correspondent at TheWeek.com. He is also a former contributing editor at The New Republic and the author of The Theocons and The Religious Test.