Everybody loves the Biden relief bill

What if…the power of Republican MESSAGING is overrated?

Republicans are struggling to persuade voters to oppose President Biden’s $1.9 trillion economic rescue plan, which enjoys strong, bipartisan support nationwide even as it is moving through Congress with just Democratic backing.

Democrats who control the House are preparing to approve the package by the end of next week, with the Senate aiming to soon follow with its own party-line vote before unemployment benefits are set to lapse in mid-March. On Friday, the House Budget Committee unveiled the nearly 600-page text for the proposal, which includes billions of dollars for unemployment benefits, small businesses and stimulus checks.

Republican leaders, searching for a way to derail the proposal, on Friday led a final attempt to tarnish the package, labeling it a “payoff to progressives.” The bill, they said, spends too much and includes a liberal wish list of programs like aid to state and local governments — which they call a “blue state bailout,” though many states facing shortfalls are controlled by Republicans — and increased benefits for the unemployed, which they argued would discourage people from looking for work.

It’s encouraging that the bill is popular, it’s encouraging that Dem moderates seem to care more about its popularity with voters than Republican legislators, and it’s encouraging when mainstream reporters are going with a “this bill is very popular with voters of both parties” frame rather than the “but muh deficits/Susan Collinses” frame that would have been more likely fairly recently.