BIDEN, DEMOCRATS BET ON LONG-TERM GOALS FOR SHORT-TERM BOOST

President Joe Biden’s legislative victories have aimed to position the U.S. to “win the economic competition of the 21st century,” but his investments to boost the nation’s technology, infrastructure and climate resilience over the next decade are set against a 90-odd-day clock until the midterms.

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From turbocharging the U.S. computer chip sector to shifting the nation to a greener economy, the achievements from Biden will take years to come to fruition -- reflecting the sheer scope of his ambitions that, taken together, put Biden among the most legislatively productive presidents in recent memory.

Yet Democrats are also gambling that the rapid clip of recent accomplishments will persuade an electorate that’s downcast about the economy and the general direction of the country to vote nonetheless in their party’s favor. Particularly critical, they say, is being able to illustrate to voters what Democrats can accomplish when they hold the levers of power in Washington, even if energy bills don’t decline right away or a new bridge takes years to be completed.

“I do think this bill will have immediate political impact, but not because people will feel the effects in the next six weeks,” Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said of the big health care, climate and economic package making its way through Congress. “It’s because they know we are lawmakers who weren’t making very many laws over the last six months.”

Schatz added, “It’s a vibe, and the vibe is winning.”

The White House views the legislative victories as interlocking pieces fulfilling the agenda Biden laid out when he ran for president in 2020 on the promise of helping the country out-compete a rising China. The policy proposals were focused on addressing generational threats and creating long-term opportunities — especially after what Biden viewed to be troubling setbacks during the Trump years.