Penn College Republicans | Remember Biden’s failed promises when you vote in this year’s midterms

If you were to turn on cable television right now, you would learn very little of importance about the upcoming midterms. Sure, you would know that Mehmet Oz and Lt. Gov. John Fetterman have garnered national attention for their virulent attack ads aimed at landing them a position in the United States Senate. However, what you would not learn is the significance of the crisis our nation is facing. 

Democrat-led rule has failed America.

Rapid market shifts have become normal, job displacement with soaring inflation has left working-class families unable to pay bills, and international political instability in parts of Europe, the Middle East, and East Asia characterize the unprecedented global turmoil that is coloring this election. This administration has presided over the start of a potential economic recession, a disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, and a plethora of loose ends they pledged to tie up during their supposed restoration of sanity to the office.

These political and economic realities are a slap in the face to Americans after two years of COVID-19 lockdowns. Americans are displeased, indicative by the Biden administration’s abysmal approval rating at 41%, and the results of these midterms will define the next two crucial years.

Midterms are an opportunity to provide a referendum on the current administration. The short terms of congressmen and congresswomen allow the American people to get the chance to hold the sitting president accountable. In the case of the Biden administration, this is overwhelmingly necessary. 

The Biden administration entered the White House in January 2021 with a litany of promises on a wide array of issues. It claimed there would be expansive housing reform, and yet, Democrat-run cities and states continue to dominate the list of those with the highest homeless populations. The five cities experiencing this crisis most significantly — New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, San Jose, and San Francisco — have almost 175,000 homeless residents combined.  

In addition, Joe Biden made many pledges to fix our country’s immigration system, yet we have seen nothing of the sort during his presidency. 

Border crossings have hit an all-time high in 2022 topping 2.76 million, with Mayor Eric Adams of New York City even declaring a state of emergency as a result of the unprecedented increase of asylum seekers. Fentanyl seizures at the southwest border have also gone up 489% in the last three years with no plan in sight from the Biden administration after calls by Republican members of Congress to make fentanyl permanently a Schedule 1 drug.

The President even went so far as to tout public safety on his visit to Philadelphia this August, a pattern following his calls to “fund the police” during his State of the Union address. However, under his party’s leadership, we’ve seen continued upticks in total violent crime in Philadelphia, a reality that is all too real for residents where robberies have doubled from last year. Fetterman proudly touts his endorsement from the Working Families Party, who stand by their claims to “Defund the Police.” This is unsurprising given the fact that, as Dr. Oz notes in ongoing campaign ads, he spent his term as lieutenant governor pushing for clemency, despite the fact that the percentage of violent offenders who repeat offend is over 60%.

A campaign that pledged to unify the American people and bring back leadership for all Americans has developed into an administration that has made it its mission to antagonize half of the country. In his speech in Philadelphia earlier this election season, he called Republicans “semi-fascists,” a term that should not be used lightly. President Biden is surely failing to fulfill his desired wishes of bringing together the country. 

A culture such as this one starts at the top. In our own day-to-day lives, we see the impacts of increasing divisiveness and the effects of a more and more virulent political culture. It would be naive and untrue to say that Democrats alone are to blame for this problem, but by getting swept up in partisan rhetoric and failing to acknowledge the plethora of issues at stake in this election, we are complicit in the problem itself.

The reality is, for better or worse, we live in a two-party system. By no means is the Republican Party perfect, and we are not blind to the failures of our own party to deliver on their promises. However, no matter who you voted for in 2020, neglecting the opportunity to call attention to the failures of the Biden administration at the ballot box this November would ignore the chance midterms provide us. 

PENN COLLEGE REPUBLICANS is a student-run political organization dedicated to fostering a conservative community on campus and helping to promote Republican values. They can be reached at penncollegerepublicans@gmail.com.