Keller @ Large: Which Democrats weren't on hand to greet Biden?
SOMERSET - President Joe Biden came to Massachusetts on Wednesday amid his worst poll numbers ever.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey were with the president when he arrived, and other local pols also made the scene in Somerset.
But presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Maura Healey wasn't one of them. And with Biden's approval ratings scraping rock bottom, it's not unusual for members of his own party to skip a photo op with him these days. It's happening in Ohio, Georgia and even right here in the nation's bluest corner.
"I'm taking on members of my own party to push a gas tax holiday, and I'm pushing Joe Biden to release more of our oil reserves," declared New Hampshire incumbent Senator Maggie Hassan in a TV ad last spring. And now she's distancing herself again with a new ad that's about as non-partisan as you can get. "Now ranked the most bipartisan senator, Hassan works with Republicans to cut wasteful spending and was one of only two Democrats to refuse to propose earmarks," it declares.
But while Biden may be slumping, his party is showing signs of life.
The latest CNN poll of party preference for Congress finds a dead heat, a seven-point gain for the Democrats since their last survey in May.
What closed that gap? There's been a six-point swing toward the Democrats and away from the GOP among people of color, a nine-point swing among women, and a stunning 27-point swing among voters age 65 or over, a traditionally reliable voting group.
And Sen. Hassan just had her all-time biggest fundraising quarter.
What's driving those numbers?
Recent controversial Supreme Court rulings on guns and abortion seem to be rallying parts of the Democratic base, and at a moment of high economic anxiety, seniors are hearing some Republicans talk about sunsetting Social Security and Medicare.
And it seems the more Donald Trump is in the news, the better for Democrats. His approval ratings are hardly much better than Biden's, with the January 6th hearings fueling their erosion.