Joe Biden’s lonely battle to sell his vision of American democracy

Biden 's theory of how to succeed in an era of American politics dominated by Trump fell apart in the final phase of his presidency.

Biden believed that he just needed to show Americans that traditional democracy still worked.

He succeeded in Phase One of his plan, enacting legislation to reshape the nation’s infrastructure, revive the semiconductor industry and fight climate change.

In private, Biden has said he should have picked someone other than Merrick Garland as attorney general.

Biden has told people in recent days that he could have defeated Trump , according to people familiar with their comments.

Biden allies point to a recent survey of historians that ranked Biden the 14th -best president in American history.

The president was so convinced that voters’ top priority was American democracy that he often made it his central campaign message.

With such momentous stakes, Biden settled on a midterm message focused on the threat to democracy.

Biden 's critics fault him for failing to grasp that his record itself was not enough, that he needed to tell a story that would resonate.