Democrats' election performance didn't seem to help Biden The 5-Minute Fix author Amber Phillips is on parental leave. Below is analysis from The Washington Post's Aaron Blake on one of the day's biggest political stories. By almost any measure, Joe Biden registered one of the most successful midterm elections for a U.S. president in recent history — and possibly the best of any since 1962 or even 1934. While Democrats narrowly lost the House, they actually gained ground in governor's mansions and state legislatures, and they could even gain a Senate seat if they win in the Georgia runoff next week. The president's party hasn't gained ground in both governor and Senate races in 88 years. All of which has ostensibly restored some confidence among twitchy Democratic officials when it comes to President Biden's stewardship of the country and his 2024 prospects. But have Democratic voters have seen their concerns allayed? Thus far that appears to be another matter. We've seen relatively little in the way of quality national polling in recent weeks. But much of it suggests the situation is about what it was before the election. Biden's approval rating is virtually unchanged, with his disapproval number double-digits higher than his approval. And while there might be a slight uptick in those who think Biden should run again or could win, the data is mixed and hardly conclusive. API's 10-Point Policy Plan provides a roadmap for a new era of American energy leadership. It recognizes our nation's abundant resources, supports energy investment, and keeps regulation from unnecessarily restricting energy growth. | |  | | | | It's worth asking just how much people view the election as an affirmation of Biden versus a repudiation of certain elements in the Republican Party. Democrats did as well as they did not because voters liked Biden but because those who disapproved of him only "somewhat" still tilted toward the blue side — rather remarkably. If Biden can lock down nearly half of Democratic voters, he'd still be the odds-on favorite to be the 2024 nominee. And the midterm results could dissuade would-be usurpers who might reason that there's a premium on unity at a time in which Republicans are shooting themselves in the feet. But these still aren't the kinds of numbers that foreclose a contested or competitive primary, nor do they suggest that Democratic voters' confidence in the 80-year-old president's performance and electoral fortitude has suddenly been restored to its early 2021 levels. How is Biden responding to the protests in China? First, let's take a step back. What's going on in China? The country is still trying to stamp out the coronavirus entirely instead of working to limit its spread. To achieve that lofty and what many would term unrealistic goal, the nation has maintained a strict "zero covid" policy. For years, China's restrictions have been much more severe than regulations in the United States even at the height of the pandemic. Some examples, per our colleague Bryan Pietsch: After years of lockdowns and expanded surveillance, people across the country have turned to a risky and rare response: protesting the government's extreme restrictions outright. How did the protests start? Last week, 10 people died in an apartment fire in Xinjiang, a region that has been under strict lockdown. Many blamed covid restrictions for the tragedy, alleging they resulted in building exits being locked and firetrucks staying too far from the flames. Officials denied that covid policies affected the response. Protests of the situation started in Xinjiang but quickly spread to cities and campuses across China. That's especially noteworthy because such demonstrations are extremely rare in China, where authorities move quickly to eradicate all forms of dissent, our colleague Lily Kuo reports. How has Biden responded? The White House has responded cautiously to the demonstrations. In a statement Monday, the administration said: "We've long said everyone has the right to peacefully protest, in the United States and around the world." That's mild compared with Biden's condemnation of other nations trying to quash dissent, such as Iran.  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Nov. 19 in Bangkok. (Jack Taylor/Pool/AP) | But Biden is in a tricky place. He's vowed not to turn a blind eye to abuses by authoritarian leaders such as President Xi Jinping, who has cracked down on political dissent over the past decade and recently extended his rule by removing term limits for himself. But Biden can't encourage the protests in China without the Chinese government seeing it as an effort to meddle in the nation's politics. And as Washington looks for cooperation from Xi on key issues — such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine — the White House feels a need to be especially careful about angering the nation. Correction: The 2010 Massachusetts election referenced in yesterday's edition was a special election, not a runoff. | 
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