Introduction

This week on Politix, Matt and Brian discuss:

* How Donald Trump wriggled away from his disastrous pandemic response and the horribleness of 2020;

* Whether Joe Biden’s pandemic response made voters more inclined to forgive Trump;

* The extent to which the switcheroo was the product of rational thinking vs. the political strategies of the two parties.

Then, paid subscribers get a prospective look at how Democrats persuade voters that their initial instinct to vote Trump out was correct. Can they raise the salience of the pandemic annus horribillis again after almost everyone has moved on? Will they ask the canonical question: “Are you better off than you were four years ago?” Would they forgive Biden for a year of inflation if they understood it as part of the long, difficult process of fixing an economy Trump broke—and will break again? Upgrade to find out!

Further reading:

* The final report of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

* Brian on the political perils of always looking forward, not backward.

* Evan Osnos on Biden’s defiant confidence in the face of losing poll numbers.