A Different Crisis In a Starkly Different Era

Playbook: “As a point of reference, in the days before the Sept. 11 attacks, a Gallup poll showed that 42% of Americans approved of Congress. After the attacks, that figure jumped to 84%. During the 2008 financial crisis, Barack Obama and John McCain — rivals for the presidency — issued a joint statement about saving the economy. (We aren’t counting the fiscal cliff, since it was a crisis of Congress’ own making.)”

“Compare that to today, an age of political venom. Congressional approval is in the 20s, and the two main candidates for the presidency are constantly barking at each other. President Trump and his team like to suggest that Joe Biden is a confused old man. Biden has called the president a racist who is ‘wholly unfit’ for the job.”

“To put it mildly, we’re in a starkly different political era.”