BTRTN: Is the Biden Afghanistan Bashing Overdone?
Born To Run The Numbers' Month-in-Review for August features an analysis of the political reaction to Biden and Afghanistan. Were the frenzied media criticisms of Biden's decisions overblown? Was Biden's standing really damaged? How will this chapter fit into the bigger narrative of Biden's presidency?
http://www.borntorunthenumbers.com/2021/09/btrtn-is-biden-afghanistan-bashing.html
Excerpts: "But while Biden certainly deserves critiques for the chaos of the exit, the intensity of the overall reaction was almost certainly overstated. Biden made the right decision to finally withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan, and having made that decision, he was doomed to suffer though an unpopular endgame, because there was no easy exit solution -- that was the problem all along. And for all the savage criticism he has received for the bungled exit, the actual impact on his approval rating has been rather modest, certainly by historical standards...
"What is the true cost to Biden politically? Time will tell, but in the short term Biden lost a mere three points in his approval rating in August (versus July), despite the daily headlines and miserable optics. That is hardly a crisis. Under Barack Obama, approval ratings flattened compared to those of his predecessors, as the country polarized, and the worst he suffered were a few four-point drops in a month. Trump, who never seemed to be held accountable for his personal war on democracy, integrity and decency, never dropped more than three points in a month, which he did three times...
"Biden is also essentially playing a long game on Afghanistan, betting that Americans will remember the decision to exit, one they support on a bipartisan basis, and in time forget the reality (and the optics) of the messy exit."
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