The summer in a president’s first year of office is often the moment the novelty wears off, and the limits to what’s possible come more clearly into view. It was when Bill Clinton, after a dreadful start, came crashing down to earth at 39 percent approval; when George W Bush fell to 50 percent (before 9/11), Obama was sideswiped by the Tea Party, and Trump collapsed in the early polling. It’s not dispositive, as all these examples prove. Presidents can recover from rough starts to two-term successes. And Biden has large public, bipartisan support on infrastructure (65 – 28) and his massive social spending proposal (62 – 32) — his key priorities.
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