Biden Infrastructure Bill: Will It Help Biden Win Back His Lost Support?

On November 15th, President Biden finally signed the long-awaited Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act also known as the Bi-Partisan Infrastructure Bill. He signed the bill in the presence of Republicans and Democrats who were key to its passing in the US Congress along with labour unions and business leaders.

Biden intends for this bill to not help the Covid-battered American Economy and boost America’s outdated infrastructure and be a major part of his legacy.

In order to achieve a deal, Biden had to cut back his initial ambition to spend $2.3 trillion on infrastructure to $1.2 trillion. The bill in reality includes about $550 billion in new spending over 10 years.

Read: Latest Joe Biden Approval Rating 2021

As per the latest poll done by the Washington-ABC Post group, only 41% of Americans approve of Biden’s performance and only 80% of Democrats are positive about him.

As per the Rasmussen Reports latest tracker update, his ratings are 42% and have been hovering around 40 for the last few months

Can the passing of this bill stop the sagging of his approval ratings and restore back to his pre-Afghanistan withdrawal levels?

Biden Infrastructure Bill: What Does the Latest Polls Suggest

The latest Washington Post /ABC Poll (above) also mentions that there is 63% support for the bill, but at the same time only 31% say Biden is keeping most of his major campaign promises and 35 percent think he’s accomplished much overall.

As per the latest Monmouth poll, 65% of Americans support the Infrastructure Bill. This figure includes more than 90% of Democrats and 60% of Independents and only 37% of Republicans.

The latest Politico/Morning Consult Survey shows only 50% of Americans support the bill down from 58% in August. This figure includes 80% of Democrats and 50% of Independents. The decline in support is due to the decline in the number of Republicans supporting the bill.

As per Navigator Survey, Biden’s efforts to pass the Infrastructure bill have added to the positive conversation surrounding him.

Had Democrats passed the bills earlier, could it have helped Democrats in Virginia and New Jersey Gubernatorial Races?

Let us go by the recent statements and actions of Democrats and Republicans from the States

One week before the Election, New Jersey and Virginia Democrat Lawmakers approached Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her to schedule a vote and pass the bill as that would have helped Democrat Campaigns in their States to retain the gubernatorial seat and the State Houses.

As per US Senator and ex-Governor of Virginia, Mark Warner – Yes.

Had the bill been passed into law earlier, it could have given Terry McAuliffe the critical momentum he needed to edge past Glenn Youngkin given the investments the bill would have poured into Virginia.

Originally tweeted by State of the Union (@CNNSotu) on November 7, 2021.

Sen. Mark Warner says if Congress passed Biden’s infrastructure plan ahead of the VA governor’s race, the results may have been different. “The voters in Virginia and the voters of America gave us the presidency, the Senate and the House. They expected us to produce.” #CNNSOTU

The other US Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine(D) said that if the bills had been passed in Early October, Terry McAuliffe and the Democrats would have had more to show to the people.

Terry McAuliffe too expressed his frustration numerous times on the campaign trail over the time that was being taken to pass the bill by House and Senate Democrats and called on leaders from both parties to get their act together.

On the day the bill was being voted for in the US House, the only 2 New Jersey Republicans were also among those who voted for the passing of the bill despite receiving a lot of blowback from their party’s supporters. The bill promises $13B of investment for New Jersey.

Biden Infrastructure Bill: Conclusions

The answers to both the above question is Yes.

The passing of the bill should help create more jobs and boost the economy and also help the nation’s infrastructure which will help Democrats and President Joe Biden on a National Level. Had Democrats passed at least the Infrastructure Bill, it would have helped and bolstered their chances among voters in both states, Virginia and New Jersey.

Every US Representative from New Jersey regardless of the party voted for the Bill, this shows how popular it was. The bill’s passing should have helped increase Phil Murphy’s margin and many State Democrat Lawmakers would have retained their seats.

In Virginia, perhaps Terry McAuliffe may have been elected the Governor leading Democrat Victories down the ticket.

But Biden should be cautious of two things:

1. Efforts to portray the bill as ‘over the top out of control’ government spending.

2. The massive Republican Opposition to this bill.

Despite receiving bipartisan support from Republicans in the US House and US Senate, the bill has been widely panned by Republicans who have not hesitated to criticise even those who have voted for this bill.US House Reps. Like Marjorie Taylor-Greene(Georgia) and Madison Cawthorn(NC) have also lambasted their fellow Republicans who voted for the bill.

Rep. Fred Upton(MI) received death threats for voting in favour of it.

The latest Politico/Morning Consult polls mentioned above have shown that the drop in support for the bill is due to its haemorrhaging support among Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents. Donald Trump too has lashed against Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell and Republicans who had voted for the bill.

Any Improvement in Biden’s Poll numbers can be expected to come from only Democrats and Independents, there may be a decrease in his poll numbers among Republicans following the signing of this bill.