Don’t call Joe Biden a failed president yet | Gary Gerstle

Progressives today can look to the American past for examples of political movements transitioning from short-term defeat to long-term success

Things are not looking good for Joe Biden. At his 20 January news conference, Joe Biden admitted that Build Back Better, the $2tn social infrastructure bill, was dead. That failure, in combination with Biden's botched effort the week before to energize the campaign for voting rights, have inclined many progressives to join the chorus of centrist and rightwing voices pronouncing Biden a failed president.

There are good reasons for disappointment in progressive ranks, especially as Donald Trump continues to thunder on about the big lie" and as the country barrels toward a 2022 midterm that Republicans, in multiple states, are trying to rig in their favor. But progressives should refrain both from heaping excessive blame on Biden himself and from losing hope. Let's take a step back.