Name: Jill Biden tests red-state messaging in Alabama
Brand: axios.com
SKU: axios-com-266
Availability: OnlineOnly

critic

Jill Biden tests red-state messaging in Alabama

preview

Jill Biden in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Pool/AFPJill Biden's visit to Alabama is an early look at how the White House plans to deploy the first lady to connect her husband's message to struggling Americans, in red states especially.Driving the news: Axios traveled with Biden on Friday to Birmingham, accompanying her to the James Rushton Early Learning Center and a YWCA where Biden spoke about how the administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus law can help address child poverty. Both centers she visited run Head Start programs that benefit from the law.Why it matters: Democrats passed the massive spending package with no Republican support. Now President Biden is seeking to highlight what's in it for Americans in every state, as the administration sets the table for an even bigger infrastructure bill the GOP leadership also has vowed to oppose.Details: Jill Biden, who is continuing to work as a community college professor, brought English papers to grade aboard the flight. Her work as an educator is woven through her speeches and personal interactions.The big picture: Alabama overwhelmingly backed former President Trump over President Biden last November, with 62% of the vote. But reaching across the aisle and engaging with Republican-controlled states is a key part of the Biden message. Between the lines: Jill Biden made several stops in Alabama during the 2020 Democratic primary campaign, helping her husband compete against rivals Michael Bloomberg — who invested heavily in staffing and ads there as part of a Super Tuesday strategy — and Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont.What they’re saying: Jones, who also was part of Friday's entourage, told Axios that sending the first lady to Alabama sends precisely the message President Biden has sought to convey. Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced Sunday he's ordered the state police to conduct an independent investigation into a traffic stop during which two officers pepper-sprayed and drew guns on an Army lieutenant.Driving the news: Caron Nazario, who is Black and Latino, is over the incident, which attracted widespread criticism after video footage emerged. Northam said t he found the incident "disturbing" and that it angered him.The top pollster for Joe Biden's presidential campaign is advising the White House to do something that often makes Democrats nervous: Talk loudly and proudly about raising taxes on the rich.Why it matters: John Anzalone tells Axios his extensive polling and research has found that few issues receive broader support than raising taxes on corporations and people earning more than $400,000 a year.At night, parents with young children march through the brush after crossing the Rio Grande River in the pitch black. By day, unaccompanied kids arrive at shelters, in one instance 17 of 17 testing positive for COVID-19.Driving the news: Axios accompanied a delegation of Republican lawmakers to South Texas last week — followed by a unilateral visit to El Paso — to see in real-time the challenges fueled by a border surge, the effects of actions taken by the previous administration, and the lagging response by the new one.

Jill Biden in Birmingham, Ala., on Friday. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Pool/AFPJill Biden's visit to Alabama is an early look at how the White House plans to deploy the first lady to connect her husband's message to struggling Americans, in red states especially.Driving the news: Axios traveled with Biden on Friday to Birmingham, accompanying her to the James Rushton Early Learning Center and a YWCA where Biden spoke about how the administration's $1.9 trillion stimulus law can help address child poverty. Both centers she visited run Head Start programs that benefit from the law.Why it matters:...

public

Sarah Mucha

Smart Brevity worthy of people's time, attention and trust. Subscribe to our newsletters: https://bit.ly/3hMCmVn

Jill Biden tests red-state messaging in Alabama

No article scores yet.

CRITIC REVIEWS

PUBLIC REVIEWS