As President Joe Biden looks to boost his re-election campaign and lousy poll numbers, there’s one policy position that is popular with voters, could help unite Democrats and would leave Republicans scrambling to respond. It’s time he come out in support of legalizing recreational use of marijuana.
There’s even a ready-made playbook for rolling out the new position. In 2012, then-Vice President Biden provided the initial public push that helped President Barack Obama off the fence on the issue of marriage equality — whose views changed and evolved over two decades, like much of America.
Now, it’s Biden stuck straddling the middle when his party and public opinion have already decided the issue. According to the latest Gallup poll earlier this month, 70% of Americans think the use of marijuana should be legal. At the same time, 24 states have moved forward on their own and legalized recreational use, the latest being Ohio where voters recently approved a ballot measure. According to Politico, more than half the country’s adult population lives somewhere weed is legal so it seems clear that this is an issue Democrats could embrace with little worry of a backlash.
What’s more, Vice President Kamala Harris could take the first step — much as Biden did for Obama on marriage equality.
For a long time, it made sense for Biden to lag behind public opinion on this issue, even if it promised short-term positive publicity. Presidents polarize. Had Biden run on legalization in 2020, or moved strongly toward it early in his presidency, he would have risked hardening opposition among Republicans. It also would have hurt the prospects for change and canceled out any public opinion advantages. It made more sense for him to oppose legalization as a candidate in 2020, and have taken only modest steps in that direction as president.