Biden’s stumble on Afghanistan shouldn’t overshadow what he’s accomplished so far

The Biden administration’s handling of our military’s withdrawal from Afghanistan has been a messaging disaster. There was a lack of clarity from the White House communications shop, a lack of transparency from the State Department and Department of Defense (DOD) and, most importantly, the appearance of unpreparedness from the president of the United States.

Thankfully, the administration appears to have turned a corner. Over 70,000 Americans and Afghan allies have been evacuated from Kabul, a number that seemed impossible when the capital of Afghanistan initially fell. This has still not inoculated President Biden from criticism. Initially, the administration appeared flatfooted and unable to adjust to the realities on the ground, and that criticism has come from both Republicans and Democrats alike. 

As Biden’s poll numbers indicate, his handling of Afghanistan has been the lowest point polling-wise in his presidency. Fair or not, the president has been held accountable for the quagmire we currently find ourselves in. The Bush administration made the decision to invade Afghanistan after the attacks on 9/11, but it will be the Biden administration that, for better or worse, will be remembered for leaving Afghanistan. Withdrawing from Afghanistan was never going to be an easy task; that’s partly why previous administrations have only committed to drawing down troops, not ending our engagement in a 20-year war. But Biden has a unique perspective that no other president in modern history can share — he was the father of a son who served in a combat zone, Iraq. And while I may disagree with the lack of cohesive message surrounding the initial fall of Kabul and the administration’s frustratingly slow explanation for the path forward, it’s increasingly difficult to criticize the response a week out. What looked to be a political and humanitarian disaster has increasingly been an opportunity for the Biden administration to rise to the occasion and course correct. 

It’s not as if this administration has a history of mismanagement or blatant incompetence — the opposite is true. Whether you voted for or even like Biden, it’s hard to argue with the results of the first seven months of his administration. On the president’s first day in office, a little over 2 million Americans were fully vaccinated and a little over 15 million had received one dose of the vaccination. As we head into the end of August, over 171 million Americans are fully vaccinated and over 200 million Americans have at least one dose of the vaccine. That’s nothing short of a miracle. But for the irresponsible messaging emanating from right-wing media and governors looking to run for president, we could have seen actual herd immunity. 

Combine the Biden administration’s COVID-19 response with their handling of the economy, and Afghanistan begins to look like an outlier, not at all the norm. According to recent reports, the U.S. economy grew 6.5 percent in the second quarter. That rate of growth outpaces almost all presidents in modern history. As much as Republicans have attempted to criticize and delegitimize Biden’s handling of the economy, policies like The American Recovery Act have infused the economy with much-needed aid and created new jobs in major industries like hospitality. Passing an infrastructure bill will only help to boost what had been a lagging economy as a result of the previous administration’s failure to adequately implement “infrastructure week” or acknowledge the reality of the nation’s COVID-19 crisis. The same cannot be said about the Biden administration’s response to COVID-19 or the economy. 

Off-year elections are never easy for the party in power. Historically, we know that the party out of power usually wins back control of Congress in midterm elections, but this time Republicans may not have as easy of a path as history would reflect. The poll numbers for Republican governors like Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) and Greg Abbott (R-Texas), both formerly viewed as stars of the party, continue to plummet, likely as a result of their rejection of COVID-19 safety policies. As deaths continue to increase, schools continue to close and infection rates continue to skyrocket, we could very likely see depressed turnout among Republicans and surging turnout among Democrats. We’ve already seen a voter registration uptick among Democrats in Georgia as a result of attempts to implement voter suppression laws. According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia now has one the highest rates of registration, with 95 percent of all Georgians registered to vote. 

Combine that high registration rate with Trump-backed candidate Herschel Walker running against Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.) and his prodigious fundraising, and it’s easy to see how the administration’s handling of Afghanistan becomes an afterthought. We’ve got a long way to go until the midterm elections. So much can and will happen between now and then. Instead of falling for snapshots of a moment in time, we would be well served to look at where the country is as a whole. Afghanistan may have been a hurdle that Biden stumbled over, but the race is far from over and he’s currently got one hell of lead out of the gate. 

Michael Starr Hopkins is a senior vice president at Firehouse Strategies.