September 15, 2022 10:13 AM UTC

"Dark Brandon" Makes The Trains Run On Time

• 6 Comments
• by: Colorado Pols

CNN reports on another big win for President Joe Biden with crucial midterm elections right around the corner–an announced tentative deal averting what would have been an economically catastrophic nationwide railroad worker strike:

President Joe Biden proclaimed a huge win for rail workers and organized labor Thursday after his administration brokered a tentative deal with freight bosses on long-sought improvements in working conditions and averted a potentially disastrous strike…

[Biden’s] intervention — including calls with union leaders and bosses in the critical run-up to the deal on Wednesday night — helped lift the threat of a dispute that could have had serious consequences for the economy and still-roaring inflation after talks, led by his Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, lasted all through Wednesday and into the middle of the night on Thursday.

The agreement in principle was a validation of Biden’s support for unions, a politically significant factor given the movement’s role supporting Democrats in November’s midterm elections. But it also averted a prolonged shutdown of freight rail that could have hammered the economy and hurt the President and his party politically and exposed him to Republican criticism.

A railroad strike would have tremendously compounded supply chain issues that have plagued the economy since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and shut down both long-distance Amtrak rail lines running through Colorado. Union rail workers won a big raise retroactive to 2020 and other important concessions that reflect the industry’s massive profits reaped during the last few years.

Stacking this latest win on a growing pile of tangible victories for Democrats to campaign on in the rapidly approaching midterm elections, a dramatic improvement in public approval for President Biden supplies fresh hope that the traditional curse of being the party in power during a midterm election could break (or at least retreat) in 2022:

Support for Biden recovered from a low of 36% in July to 45%, driven in large part by a rebound in support from Democrats just two months before the November midterm elections. During a few bleak summer months when gasoline prices peaked and lawmakers appeared deadlocked, the Democrats faced the possibility of blowout losses against Republicans.

Their outlook appears better after notching a string of legislative successes that left more Americans ready to judge the Democratic president on his preferred terms: “Don’t compare me to the Almighty. Compare me to the alternative.”

Like Vince Lombardi famously said, “winning is habit.” The change in fortunes for Democrats, and not a moment too soon, is undeniable.