Politico | The Joe Biden blitz is coming

This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Christopher Cadelgo and Natasha Korecki on politico.com on March 9, 2021.

With that US$1.9 trillion legislation set to clear Congress and the pace of vaccinations picking up, the White House is preparing to embark on a new, far more public-facing phase.

Biden is scheduled to deliver his first prime-time address as president Thursday, which will focus on the Covid-19 crisis. Later this month, he’ll hold the first press conference of his young presidency. He’s committed to making a still-unscheduled address to Congress. And officials are busy preparing for a sprawling sales campaign designed to draw attention to the benefits of the Covid-19 relief package. Biden, first lady Jill Biden, Vice-President Kamala Harris and others will hit the road to tout, among other things: the US$1,400 cheques, how billions of dollars in the bill will reopen schools, and the investments being made in increasing the numbers of vaccinations.

“There are a lot of people who use the term ‘victory lap’ in a derogatory way. I’ve already heard people saying that Biden is about to take a victory lap. Well, that’s a lot of crap,” said House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, a close Biden ally. “One of the- if not the biggest – mistakes that Obama made, in my opinion, was getting the Recovery Act done and not explaining to people what he had done.”

Biden and top administration officials acknowledged they’ll have to do more to ensure the benefits of their package sink into the public’s consciousness. And they’ve spent weeks carefully planning how best to begin their efforts while much of the country remains consumed by the pandemic. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Tuesday that once the American Rescue Plan is signed, “We will need to do some work and use our best voices”.