--- ---  # Biden Just Scored a Huge Win. Will Distracted Democrats Even Notice?  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 12, 2022 9:43 PM UTC  US President Joe Biden speaks with his grandson Robert Biden II after signing a bill Legislation giving veterans exposed to toxic burn pits access to expanded health benefits in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 10, 2022. US President Joe Biden speaks with his grandson Robert Biden II after signing a bill Legislation giving veterans exposed to toxic burn pits access to expanded health benefits in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 10, 2022.Al Drago—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Philip Elliott](https://time.com/author/philip-elliott/)  ## Philip Elliott Senior Correspondent Aug 12, 2022 9:43 PM UTC _This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up_ [_here_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite) _to get stories like this sent to your inbox._ MILWAUKEE—Sarah Barber admits she lives in a liberal and privileged bubble in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood. Her customers where she tends bar share her progressive hopes, her classmates in her graduate program generally agree when the 37-year-old speaks up in their psych courses, and she doesn’t regret moving here from Michigan. Still, when she starts to think about national politics, she has visible disappointment. “Shit’s not getting done,” she says as she’s wrapping up her Sunday afternoon caffeine fix at a hip coffee joint. “There’s no accomplishments. There’s no accountability. There’s nothing to show for having the House, the Senate, and the White House.” It’s a common [refrain](https://time.com/6191899/joe-biden-midterms-young-voters/) among voters this cycle. A shocking 75% of Democrats [told](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/26/politics/cnn-poll-biden-2024/index.html) pollsters in July they wanted someone other than Joe Biden as the nominee in 2024\. A full 27% of Democrats [say](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/18/politics/cnn-poll-joe-biden-economy-us/index.html) they disapprove of Biden’s performance these days. Strategists have to go [back](https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/?ex%5Fcid=rrpromo) to Jimmy Carter to find an incumbent President with worse polling than Biden’s at the same point in their terms. So much of Washington seems [stuck](https://time.com/6202200/biden-progress-bills-ahead-midterms/) in park. But Barber’s comments last Sunday were particularly noteworthy because the Senate had _just_ [spent](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/10/why-inflation-reduction-act-passed-senate-cap-and-trade-didnt/) all night [preparing](https://time.com/6204537/inflation-reduction-act-whats-in-it/) a [massive](https://time.com/6203668/inflation-reduction-act-climate-fight/) piece of [legislation](https://www.democrats.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/inflation%5Freduction%5Fact%5Fone%5Fpage%5Fsummary.pdf) that tackles [fairness](https://time.com/6204501/inflation-reduction-act-close-corporate-tax-loopholes/) in the tax code, aims to fight [climate change](https://time.com/6204582/inflation-reduction-act-climate-change/), and allows Medicare to [negotiate](https://time.com/6204409/inflation-reduction-act-health-care-drug-costs/) drug prices. The final vote was scheduled for the very day Barber decried inaction. The Inflation Reduction Act was classic Washington: a catchy bill name paired with a [failure to communicate](https://www.cnn.com/2015/12/21/politics/obama-communications-strategy). And now, House Democrats have sent the landmark bill to Biden to sign. The votes represent major Democratic wins in an election environment that even the most partisan liberal will admit isn’t great. Yet, in the heartland, this significant victory was not top of mind. And most of the country’s journalists have their attention spans glued to the Strangelove-esque revelations coming out of Mar-a-Lago. All that, put simply, should worry Biden and his fellow Democrats as November draws closer. “People are reluctant to bash \[Biden\] because he’s our team,” Barber says. “We knew this was the sacrifice we were making when we nominated him, but he got Trump out. I just don’t know how anyone defends him now.” She then utters the words that haunt the empty-benched Democrats: “Let’s hope he doesn’t run again.” Biden and his fellow Democrats are defending the narrowest of majorities in Congress this fall. Republicans need to pick up only one seat in the current 50-50 Senate and Democrats are down to a 10-seat advantage in the [current](https://pressgallery.house.gov/member-data/party-breakdown) House. Polls show Republican voters are more interested in this fall’s contests, but that, too, [changed](https://time.com/6173552/democratic-party-grassroots-abortion/) after the Supreme Court [reversed](https://time.com/6190995/abortion-future-after-roe/) _Roe_ in June and the [school shooting](https://time.com/6182095/uvalde-shooting-gun-violence/) in Uvalde, Texas, as Democrats suddenly seemed to grasp the stakes. (Specific candidates also make a [big](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/29/senate-elections-gop-georgia-pennsylvania/) difference.) And yet, it may be premature to start running the tape forward to Nov. 9\. Incumbent Democratic Senators are [consistently](https://www.cnn.com/2022/04/20/politics/senate-democrats-fundraising-advantage/index.html) posting better fundraising numbers than their Republican challengers, and Democratic candidates are [keeping](https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-influence/2022/08/11/frontline-dems-are-raising-more-money-without-corporate-cash-than-with-it-00051236) the numbers [competitive](https://rollcall.com/2022/07/18/new-fec-filings-show-no-sign-of-donors-abandoning-democrats/) despite donors’ skittishness. In a handful of key races, Democrats have either [engineered](https://www.npr.org/2022/06/27/1106859552/primary-illinois-colorado-republican-candidate-democrats-ads) or [lucked](https://time.com/6181171/herschel-walker-georgia-republican-senate/) their way into some [problematic](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/07/29/senate-elections-gop-georgia-pennsylvania/) GOP nominees. Biden’s poll numbers seem to have steadied, and the generic [ballot question](https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/2022-generic-congressional-vote-7361.html#polls) has [trended](https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/06/midterms-inflation-abortion-gun-control-democrats/) into Democrats’ [favor](https://www.cnn.com/2022/07/21/politics/generic-ballot-polling-2022-midterm-election/index.html) since _Roe_ and Uvalde. The economy remains the top issue for voters, yet signs indicate inflation is starting to break and unemployment [remains](https://newrepublic.com/article/167313/unemployment-rate-bank-america-inflation) low. [Gas prices](https://time.com/6194505/gas-prices-biden-republicans/) are finally coming [down](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/08/11/gas-prices-national-average-under-4/10280119002/). And a summer of [revenge travel](https://time.com/6188783/tourism-boom-revenge-travel/) has done wonders for families who spent the last two years fearful of a pandemic or economic crater. But we may be on the cusp of an inflection point in the campaign cycle. Biden is starting to [celebrate](https://time.com/6204141/biden-jobs-report-july-economy/) the turn on the economy and will soon sign a piece of legislation many—myself [included](https://time.com/6198779/joe-manchin-democrats-fate-biden/)—thought dead as negotiations lumbered on. The results may buoy him, especially among Democrats who want to see a sign of life. Or not. Control of Congress in 2023 feels like more of a toss-up than it did a few weeks ago. How that dynamic shifts, or doesn’t, in the coming days will be revealing. _Make sense of what matters in Washington._ [_Sign up for the D.C. Brief newsletter_](https://cloud.newsletters.time.com/signup?nln=dc-brief&source=dc%5Fonsite)_._ Even After Spending Bill, Democrats Impatient With Biden ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6205655/biden-inflation-reduction-act-democrats-impatient/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6205655/biden-inflation-reduction-act-democrats-impatient/"},"headline":"Biden Just Scored a Huge Win. 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