This is Left Right & Center from KCRW. I'm Molly Ball, National Political

Correspondent for Time Magazine, filling in this week for David Green.

President Biden is facing a big problem as he ramps up his re-election campaign,

voters don't like how he's handling the economy. Now he's taking that head on.

Last week, Biden gave a speech taking ownership of a word that up to that point

had largely been used by his opponents.

Bidenomics is about building an economy from the middle out in the bottom up, not the top down.

It was Republicans who originally rallied around the idea of Bidenomics as inflation

soared last year, hoping to blame the White House for the burden rising prices have

placed on consumers. But now Bidenomics is the term Democrats hope will be a catch-all

for the president's economic policies as they seek to turn a weakness into a strength.

They're hoping to convince voters to give the president credit for economic growth

when it's time to cast their ballots next November. Despite voters widespread pessimism,

there are signs the economy is actually doing pretty well. The stock market is up,

unemployment is low, wages are rising, inflation has cooled, and that recession we kept hearing

forecast still hasn't happened. Democrats argue these are all signs the administration's policies

are bearing fruit. From the trillions of taxpayer dollars invested in infrastructure,

climate and technology, to the federal reserves ratcheting up of interest rates.

Members of the cabinet and administration are fanning out across the country to make this case

in local communities where new roads and bridges and factories are being built. At that speech

in Chicago announcing the new strategy the president named three pillars of this push.

First, making smart investments in America. Second, educated and empowering American workers

...