| "Voters are unhappy with the direction of the country and don't think we get it." That's from a Democratic strategy memo this past November, right after Democrats lost the Virginia governor's race. Many interpreted that loss as a bad sign for Democrats going into this November's midterm elections where control of Congress is at stake. So, halfway between that election and another big one this November, how are Democrats doing in the eyes of voters? Not great, according to the signs we're seeing. Here are a few of the big warning signs for Democrats. Biden is getting low marks on nearly every top issue to Americans. Much of that is driven by Republican opposition, but it still adds up to a majority of Americans. Here's polling from a CBS/YouGov poll last week:  (The Washington Post) | This question: "Generally speaking, do you think things in America are going…" - 66 percent say somewhat or very badly, according to that CBS/YouGov poll.
- 34 percent say somewhat or very well, and of those, just 7 percent say very well
Contrast that with what Biden said in a statement today: "Americans are getting back to work in every corner of the country in record numbers." He was referencing the very low unemployment rates in most states. But he's been touting low unemployment for awhile now, and that isn't resonating with Americans. (Plus, Republicans fired back that a good chunk of those states with low unemployment are controlled by them.)  Americans paid more for groceries and other essentials last month. (Frederic Brown/Getty Images) | Democrats' lack of economic legislation: What could make this better for Democrats? "Voters are very much in 'What have you done for me lately?'" John Anzalone, a pollster for Biden, told Politico. He said if Democrats could cobble together something from parts of Biden's Build Back Better agenda, something that will lower health insurance and prescription drug costs as well as child and elderly care, that "will give Democrats a competitive advantage on what they're doing for working families." There are talks in Congress about putting together such legislation, but it's not clear if Democrats will pass something. Other Democrats think talking about former president Donald Trump's potential return to politics, or Republicans' remarkable success at limiting abortion rights across the country, can motivate Democrats to get out and vote, since it can be easier to motivate voters against something rather than for something. A campaign issue to better understand: fentanyl What it is: A synthetic opioid that has fast become one of the deadliest drugs in America. The illegal version of it is often made in China then smuggled into the United States by mail or from the Mexican border. How it's factoring into politics right now: A lot of people are dying from it, with a record amount in the first year of the pandemic. There's widespread agreement on what to do. Republicans and Democrats and Biden all want to classify fentanyl as one of the most illegal drugs. But that appears to have taken a backseat to campaigning on the crisis. "Because of Joe Biden, fentanyl, cartels, human traffickers pour across our border," a Republican running for Senate in Ohio said in an ad recently. The Post's David Weigel found examples like that across the nation, of Republicans blaming Biden for the overdoses. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) is stopping trucks with produce and goods at the border in part to search for drugs and saying it's Biden's fault. Fact check: Biden has not opened the U.S. border. He's made several significant changes to Trump's immigration policy, particularly by reducing deportations of people already in the country. In May he will make another big change by lifting pandemic restrictions known as Title 42 that have kept migrants from applying for asylum at the border. The Biden administration has been using Title 42, like the Trump administration did, to send back thousands of migrants every month. Ending Title 42 will not reverse Trump's immigration policies. Trump only had Title 42 in place the last few months he was in office. But lifting it could send thousands of migrants to the border in hopes of applying for asylum, and in hopes that Biden is more lenient than Trump was. It's unclear what impact that's going to have on the fentanyl crisis. A fascinating text: "If POTUS allows this to occur... we're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic..." That's a text from Rep. Chip Roy (R-Tex.) to Trump's chief of staff Mark Meadows in the days before Congress was going to certify Biden's win. Meadows handed over his texts to the Jan. 6 committee months ago, before deciding not to cooperate any further with the committee. CNN recently got ahold of these texts from Roy and another Trump ally, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah). Both warned Trump away from Jan. 6, as The Post's Aaron Blake analyzes, even as they worked hard to help Trump to stay in power. (Both ended up voting against Republican efforts to decertify state results.) Roy argued in texts that Trump's attempts to overturn his loss on Jan. 6 was undemocratic. "We're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic," he said. It's the same argument the Jan. 6 committee is making now. | 
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