Biden appeals for Democratic unity at DNC event

President Biden on Tuesday pleaded with Democrats to stay unified ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

“My message is this: We need to remember what got us to the White House in the first place. We won in 2020 as a unified party, maybe more unified than ever. Now, as we look at 2022, we need to stay unified,” Biden said during remarks at a virtual Democratic National Committee grassroots event.

“We need to remember that the American people sent us here to deliver to make their lives better,” he said. 

Biden used the virtual appearance to tout the bipartisan infrastructure bill that recently passed the House, after months of delay as Democrats tried to sort out disagreements over his domestic agenda.

“For four years long, the last president told us we’re going to get the infrastructure done, but he couldn’t get it done, so it was left to us. And we got the job done,” Biden said, referring to former President Trump’s failed promise of “infrastructure week.” Biden noted that the bill also received Republican support.

The infrastructure vote represented a major victory for the White House, even as six progressive Democrats broke with the party to vote against the bill to express displeasure with the lack of a final vote on a larger climate and social-spending package. Thirteen Republicans voted for the infrastructure bill in the House, and it received overwhelming bipartisan support in the Senate when it was put to a vote in August. 

The social-spending package is expected to pass the House sometime next week, but hurdles remain given reservations expressed by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), a key moderate. 

Biden’s remarks were particularly noticeable following Democrats’ loss in the Virginia gubernatorial election last week. Biden and Vice President Harris had campaigned for Democrat Terry McAuliffe, who ultimately lost the race to Republican businessman Glenn Youngkin.

The loss and a near-miss in New Jersey’s gubernatorial race served as a wake-up call for Democrats, many of whom argued that they point to the need for Congress to deliver on Biden’s sweeping policy agenda to hold onto their razor-thin majorities next year. The infrastructure vote occurred three days later.