We understand the political reasoning behind President Joe Biden joining the United Auto Workers picket line in Michigan on Tuesday: Michigan will be a key swing state in the next presidential election, as it was in the previous election, and Democrats need to shore up support.
Biden’s poll numbers over the weekend were not exactly inspiring confidence, and the dispute between the UAW and Detroit’s auto giants clearly represented a golden opportunity for Biden to shore up support among a key yet politically wobbly constituency: blue-collar workers. The Democrats know they can count on the loyalty of coastal elites, but the folks who work the line in Detroit and then head “up north” to fish on the weekend are a less secure constituency. Donald Trump also was in Michigan this week.
We believe Biden should not have been there.
The main problem when the president of the United States stands on a picket line is that he loses the subsequent ability to act as an honest broker, to be able to pick up the phone and tell both sides to compromise for the sake of the American economy.
By joining picketers, Biden is tacitly supporting the current demands of the union.