After holding office little more than a year, President Joseph Biden finds himself under unrelenting assault by Republicans for his domestic and foreign policies.

Although he no doubt believes otherwise, many of his current problems are self-inflicted. But they can be resolved—and he can still be re-elected in 2024—if he breaks with his longtime attitude of: “Can’t we all just get along?” 

In Part One of this series, three such remedies were listed. Here are the remaining two.

WEAPON #4: REASSURE VOTERS THAT HE IS ATTACKING INFLATION IN A WAY THEY CAN UNDERSTAND 

When people are frightened and angry, they look for simple answers and solutions—and scapegoats. That is how Republicans deal with crises.

Republicans learned long ago that most voters aren’t moved by appeals to their rationality. Instead, what counts with them is emotions. 

And Republicans have become experts at appealing to these—especially the baser ones. For Republicans, the Big Three are: Hatred, Greed, Fear.

President Biden should do the same in combating rising food prices, which are frightening and angering millions.

Instead of accepting the conventional explanation of “supply chain difficulties,” he should blame rising prices on the entrenched greed of corporations. In many cases, it no doubt happens to be true.

This will be widely accepted and divert criticism of the President.

More importantly, Biden should propose a bill to make price gouging a national crime, punishable by a lengthy prison term. It can be modeled on the anti-extortion provisions in the Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act.

No matter what happens on the bill, the President faces a win/win situation.

If it passes, he can rightly take credit for it and reap the popularity certain to result. And if Republicans block its passage, he can rightly blame them, thus ensuring that he and Democrats are seen as “the people’s champions.”

WEAPON #5: ACCUSE REPUBLICANS OF SUPPORTING DICTATORSHIP

Republicans have enthusiastically embraced Donald Trump’s Big Lie that the 2020 election was stolen from him—despite overwhelming evidence that it wasn’t.

Legislators in Republican-controlled states are now working furiously to corrupt election machinery at state and local levels so they can nullify the votes of millions of Democrats in the 2022 and 2024 elections.

Their ultimate goal: Restore a lifelong criminal and Russia-appeasing traitor to absolute power as “President-for-Life.”

Donald Trump

In 1968, Richard Nixon ran for President on the slogan: “This time, vote like your whole world depends on it.”

Democrats should make this their slogan for 2022—and 2024: “This time, vote like your whole democracy depends on it.”   

* * * * *

Millions of Americans believe that only liberals can be Communist sympathizers and traitors. This is the direct result of decades of Republican propaganda dating back to 1946.

Republicans, having lost the White House from 1932 to 1948, furiously sought a return to power. And they found their remedy in attacking the patriotism of their fellow Americans—ushering in the infamous era of Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon and the Hollywood Blacklist.

Democrats need to similarly damn Republicans with the charge of “Traitor.” The difference: There is plenty of evidence—much of it on video—to document its truth.

For example:

• On Right-wing Fox News Network, its popular broadcaster, Tucker Carlson, asked: “Why is it disloyal to side with Russia but loyal to side with Ukraine?”
• Arkansas’ Republican United States Senator Tom Cotton has blamed Putin’s aggression against Ukraine on Biden: “It is a result of a year of Joe Biden’s impotence and incompetence towards Russia in particular and in foreign policy more generally.”  
• More than 60% of Democrats view Putin very unfavorably, but only 30 to 40% of Republicans do.

As a whole, Democrats have shown themselves indifferent to or ignorant of the power of effective language. They have also refused to see most of their fellow Americans for what they are.

Historically, the United States has always been a highly conservative nation. Going from “conservative” to “Fascist” is a relatively easy step—as millions of Donald Trump’s supporters have proven. 

On April 27, 2020, Joe Scarborough offered an important insight about why most Americans ignored Trump’s crimes and outrages for so long: “I’ve said from the very beginning: You can lie about independent counsels, people won’t listen. You can lie about former FBI directors—“

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: “It doesn’t impact their lives.”

JOE SCARBOROUGH: “They’re still going to work, the kids are doing fine, they’ve got enough money to pay their rent, to pay their mortgage, You can even lie about the Ukraine call—they don’t really care.” 

But COVID-19 changed all that. Suddenly, millions of Americans found themselves stuck at home with their children. Many of them couldn’t go to work—because they were sick or their jobs had disappeared. Their 401Ks suddenly became worthless.

Suddenly, “the happy time” for Americans was over—just as it had ended for Nazi Germany after Adolf Hitler invaded the Soviet Union in 1941.Had COVID-19 not intervened, Trump would still be President.

And he wouldn’t have had to call on aid from Vladimir Putin. Millions of Right-wing, “I’ve-got-mine-so-screw-you” Americans would have happily returned him to office as “President-for-Life.”

Democrats have powerful weapons to use against their sworn Republican enemies. But first they must recognize Republicans as their enemies.