Feb 21

Feb 21 Biden benefits from a dismal week for Ted Cruz and Andrew Cuomo By John Zogby

One thing a teacher has to look out for is how the rest of the class is performing. So while we try to judge each student on his/her own merits, we must take note if the test was so difficult that it caused other students to fail. Comparisons are important.

Thus, President Biden had a good week. He flexed his muscles in foreign policy by rejoining the Paris climate accords and strongly signaled that he is heading in the direction of rejoining the "P-5 plus 1" nuclear treaty with Iran if Iran is willing to abide by it. He clearly signaled a new approach to Israel, Saudi Arabia, and the Middle East region. And he made his positions clear both on immigration and holding firm on a $1.94 trillion package for COVID relief.

His polling numbers are high, but he has little wiggle room with Congress. For example, he might very well lose his nominee for director of the Office of Management and Budget because of a key loss of support from a Democratic senator, Joe Manchin of West Virginia.

All in all, I think it was a solid week. But I have to raise his grade because of two students who really messed up the leadership test. In a spirit of bipartisanship on my part, the first is Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. He didn't just screw up in a big way, but he began by blaming his daughters, then his wife, then lied about how long the trip to Cancun was planned for. He just spun out of control and is not likely to survive this mess. He even got hit on Saturday Night Live.

Then there is New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Never a lovable character on a good day, these were not good days. He had received high marks for his early response to the coronavirus pandemic even though New York's numbers were through the roof. But he was facing the press daily. Preaching with the cadence borrowed from his father and appearing, above all else, that he was telling the truth.

However, he did not tell the truth about the actual numbers of deaths in nursing homes, about why he was reassigning sick, elderly patients back to nursing homes, and then bullying legislators to assist him in lying. He promised to "destroy" them. One assemblyman received a not uncharacteristic late-night call from a bellowing and angry governor while he was trying to bathe his young children.

Yes, Joe Biden, you had a good week — made all the better by your classmates who failed badly.

John Zogby (@TheJohnZogby) is the founder of the Zogby Poll and Zogby companies, including John Zogby Strategies, and author of We Are Many We Are One: Neo-Tribes and Tribal Analytics in the 21st Century America.