How Gen Z feels about Bidenomics
“Bidenomics is a promise, not only to America, but directly to Gen Z that President Biden is fighting for the economy of our future,” one young leader told Supercreator Daily.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
As insistent as the White House is on making Bidenomics a part of the mainstream lexicon, you wouldn’t be silly for thinking the expression is the brainchild of monthslong deliberation to find the perfect word to capture the breadth of his economic policy.
But to let the president tell it, his administration simply co-opted the colloquialism from the press.
“Well, look, you guys branded it. I never called it Bidenomics,” he told reporters ahead of the big speech he gave on it last week in Chicago. “Let’s get it straight: The first time it was used was in the Wall Street Journal, okay? I don’t go beating my chest, Bidenomics.”
No matter where the term is derived, the White House is leaning all the way toward it.
This afternoon, President Biden will travel to South Carolina to announce a major clean energy manufacturing partnership between Enphase Energy and Flex that the administration says will create 600 new jobs in the state and 1,800 nationwide.
The Enphase-Flex collab is part of the more than $500 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments that companies have committed in the US since the beginning of the Biden administration.
However, the verdict is still out on whether the rebranding of an economic agenda bolstered by legislative wins from last year will resonate with the broader electorate. But for Gen Z voters, a pivotal voting bloc for the president, it’s a message that has the potential to resonate.
Fundamentally, Jack Lobel, a spokesperson for Voters of Tomorrow, a Gen-Z-led organization that promotes the power of young Americans, told Supercreator Daily on Wednesday afternoon that Bidenomics is an idea that Americans should grow up in a more equitable economy, a belief that jibes with his generation’s values.
“Bidenomics is a promise, not only to America, but directly to Gen Z that President Biden is fighting for the economy of our future,” Lobel said.
For the White House, this future includes all Americans — even those in South Carolina, a state whose Democratic voters delivered then-presidential candidate Biden the decisive primary win that turned his campaign around in 2020 but that voted for former President Donald Trump by a 55-43 percent in the general election.
“He’s going to go right into an area for people who didn’t vote for him. Many people didn’t vote for him,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday. “And he’s going to say how he’s delivered for them when it comes to manufacturing, how we’re seeing these manufacturing companies invest. And so that’s what’s important.”
The visit is also a political opportunity to call out the hypocrisy of House Republicans who voted against the legislation that funds these investments in Washington but claim credit for them back in their districts.
“If Republicans in Congress — including every Republican member of the House of Representatives from South Carolina — had their way, South Carolina would have lost out on billions of dollars in investments, jobs and opportunities,” a section of a fact sheet distributed by the administration on Wednesday night read.
White House officials are banking on the impact of these projects breaking through the partisan rancor that defines contemporary American politics to prove voters care less about who's doing the work as long as they can benefit from it.
The South Carolina stop is part of the administration’s push to promote Bidenomics as a force multiplier across all sectors and industries.
Later this afternoon, as you’ll read in Today in Politics, Vice President Kamala Harris will be in Arizona to discuss the administration’s investments in tribal communities and water resilience in Indian Country. And congressional Democrats will join White House cabinet officials in five states to localize the Bidenomics gospel:
New York: Rep. Paul Tonko will team up with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to discuss the clean energy economy and strengthening offshore wind efforts.
Ohio: Reps. Emilia Sykes and Shontel Brown will partner with Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra to hold events on how the Inflation Reduction Act is lowering health care costs for older Americans and families.
Washington: Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell along with Reps. Rick Larsen and Derek Kilmer will join Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Gov. Jay Inslee to bring awareness to how recently awarded grants will improve transportation infrastructure.
California: Rep. Ami Bera will discuss the record number of small business starts during the Biden administration with Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Guzman.
New Mexico: The congressional delegation will hold events on high-speed internet for all with Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and White House Senior Advisor Mitch Landrieu.
Biden is expected on Friday to announce major actions to lower health care costs and eliminate junk fees. And cabinet officials and members of Congress will hold additional events to promote how Bidenomics supports outdoor recreation and fights the Black maternal health crisis, among other issues.
“When people think of ‘Gen-Z issues,’ we think about abortion rights, climate change, and gun violence because these are really issues that Gen Z has to face every day,” Voters of Tomorrow’s Lobel said. “But, really, we have to start thinking about jobs and the economy in the context of Gen Z. Young voters are growing up in this economy too, and it is hard for us to get an education and to access affordable health care, or to find housing to live in. So this absolutely matters for us.”
👋🏾 Hi, hey, hello! Welcome to Supercreator Daily, your essential guide to the politicians, power brokers, and policies shaping the American creator experience. It’s Thursday, July 6, 2023.
Your Supercreator Daily author was featured in Embedded, an awesome newsletter about what’s good on the internet. Kate and I discussed digital media literacy on Capitol Hill, the three biggest issues affecting creators, and how creators can overcome their fear of being political. It’s the perfect palate cleanser to wash down this morning’s issue.
TODAY IN POLITICS
All times Eastern
9 a.m. President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing.
10:10 a.m. The president will travel from the White House to West Columbia, South Carolina, arriving at 11:50 a.m.
12:50 p.m. President Biden will tour Flex LTD, an international manufacturing company.
12:05 p.m. Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will arrive in Phoenix from Los Angeles.
12:45 p.m. The vice president will participate in an arrival ceremony with Gov. Stephen Lewis of the Gila River Indian Community.
1:15 p.m. The president will speak about American manufacturing.
1:55 p.m. Vice President Harris will speak about the administration’s investments in tribal communities.
2:20 p.m. President Biden will travel from West Columbia back to the White House, arriving at 3:55 p.m.
3:45 p.m. The vice president will visit a water infrastructure project to promote the bipartisan infrastructure law.
7 p.m. Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Emhoff travel from Phoenix to Washington, DC, arriving at 10:55 p.m.
The House and Senate are out.
THEY DID THAT
Hakeem Jeffries led a congressional delegation to Trinidad and Tobago, his second CODEL as the top House Democrat. During the trip, Jeffries said members will discuss regional security, economic security, economic growth, the climate crisis, and energy with the local government and civil society leaders. He was joined by Del. Amata Coleman Radewagen (R-American Samoa), Reps. Greg Meeks (D-N.Y.), Steven Horsford (D-Nev.), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), and Joaquin Castro (D-Texas).
Former Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) announced he is running to represent New York’s 17th congressional district, the seat he declined to run in after his was redrawn in the same one as another Democrat. Instead, Jones ran in New York’s 10th, where he lost in the primary to the eventual winner Dan Goldman. Jones, who became one of the first two openly gay Black members of Congress and launched his campaign with endorsements from over 100 local officials, joins a field that already features Liz Whitmer Gereghty, the sister of Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) announced his reelection campaign raised more than $4 million last quarter, his best fundraising quarter ever, as he awaits a Republican challenger. Pennsylvania is expected to be a critical battleground state in next year’s election.
Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) announced his campaign to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the Senate raised a whopping $8.1 million in the second quarter. The disclosure comes after House Republicans last month voted to censure him for investigating the fire between former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia. His campaign said that’s the most ever raised by a Democratic Senate candidate in an off-year. Schiff, who is running against Reps. Katie Porter and Barbara Lee, has almost $30 million cash on hand to compete in a reliably blue state with several expensive media markets.
Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas) hauled in $6.2 million in the first two months of his campaign to replace Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the Senate. The former NFL player and rising star in national Democratic politics also transferred $2.4 million from his House campaign coffers to the Senate account.
Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wis.) signed into law a state budget that would allow school districts can increase the revenue they raise by $325 per student each year until 2425. The former educator pulled it off against Republican opposition by removing a hyphen and a “20” from a reference to the 2024-25 school year. Evers also vetoed a plan from Republican lawmakers to eliminate almost 200 positions within the University of Wisconsin System focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion programs.
Former New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio and his wife Chirlane announced their separation in what feels like a grown-up, progressive situation for the two involved parties.
Acrisure Stadium canceled the Pittsburgh stop of Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE world tour next month. The home of the NFL’s Steelers cited production logistics and scheduling issues. But Vice News reporter Alexis Johnson speculates it’s because the Pittsburgh girlies are some haters. (FWIW, the Seattle show was rescheduled from Sep. 13 to Sep. 14, and the Kansas City show was moved from Sep. 18 to Oct. 1.).
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