Biden's new recipe for the midterms: Less honey, more vinegar - POLITICO

And for the Biden White House, efforts at bipartisanship have finally taken a backseat.To the frustration of many Democrats and some of his closest advisers, President Joe Biden has steadfastly spent more than a year in office insisting on trying to work across the aisle with Republicans.It’s produced some notable legislative successes. And even though he witnessed firsthand the vicious GOP attacks on former President Barack Obama, he pointed to his role as vice president in successfully spearheading negotiations around tax cuts and spending reductions with McConnell as evidence that he possessed the right temperament and skills to make deals amid the histrionics.But Biden also believed that after four tumultuous years of Trump, the nation was hungry for unity — and that even some Republicans, horrified by the Jan. 6 riot and weary of the 45th president’s divisive approach to the office, would be willing to spend some time working across the aisle.“The thing that will fundamentally change things is with Donald Trump out of the White House. But the only alternative from congressional Republicans is Sen. Rick Scott’s ultra MAGA tax plan that would do the polar opposite.”The White House took pains to note that it did receive GOP support on the infrastructure bill and also picked up some GOP votes for some high-profile Senate confirmations, including of incoming Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.But privately, Biden has expressed frustration with media coverage of his administration and believes that the press — and Americans at large — have been too quick to gloss over the damage Trump did to the country.