As slow as President Joe Biden has been to get Ukraine the weapons it needs, he has been worse on another key front: making the case for American support to the American public.
Vladimir Putin’s victory in this war will reflect that bare aggression works, spelling disaster for the world order and thus the civilized world, United States included: Russia will soon advance on other countries Putin thinks he owns; China and Iran will become more aggressive, and America’s allies will become more fearful and cautious.
The obvious dangers are why Biden has backed Kiev as strongly as he has.
But he has failed to make the case before America public, instead using all of the president’s bullying powers to sell his domestic agenda and other purely partisan efforts.
As a result, Ukraine could become another spectacular failure of his.
An AP-NORC poll found support for a “major” U.S. role in the war fell from 32% last year to just 26% in January. Only 48% of Americans are still sending back American weapons, down from 60%.
For those who think we have already done it too much The percentage rose from 7% a year ago to 26% last month, per Pew. A Fox News poll showed that 46% want to slap a time limit on any aid.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has vowed not to write a “blank check” to Kiev and wants to end a small wave of GOP lawmakers. all Help Ukraine now.
The group is pushing a non-binding “Ukraine exhaustion” resolution.
Note the cynical name: they (rationally) hope that, as the war progresses, the public will tire and lose the stake.
“I feel very bad [Ukraine]But I feel like we need to take care of priorities here at home first,” says Joe Hernandez of Rocklin, Calif., per the AP.
This feeling is bound to grow.
Yet US aid is key to Ukraine’s ability to resist Russian aggression.
And if Kiev falls, Moscow will soon move on to new targets, even NATO members; Beijing will increase its bullying of its neighbors and look hard at invading Taiwan.
Iran and other rogue nations will also become more aggressive. Powers such as Turkey will monitor their “special military operations”.
Biden must shout from the rooftops every day to ensure support.
His surprise trip to Kiev on the anniversary of the attack was great for Ukraine’s morale, but did nothing for it. the american opinion
No: His speeches focus on bragging about his economic “accomplishments” and celebrating stupidities like his campaign to forgive college loans for most wealthy Americans.
Biden already made a big mistake before the war, by trying to deter Putin with the lofty talk of sanctions instead of actually sending arms to Ukraine.
He has made other mistakes by letting Putin’s nuclear bluffs scare Kiev into sending more powerful weapons (see only time and again light months later).
Biden knows The stakes are high: “The cost of walking away can be significantly higher than the cost of help,” he said recently.
But the cost of not rallying the nation behind support for Ukraine — yes, even at the expense of his partisan domestic agenda — is at least as high.
Honor your oath of office, sir, and put on National Interests ahead of your biased people.
