Associated Press: “As the challenges confronting President Joe Biden intensify, his predictions of a rosy political future for the Democratic Party are growing bolder. The assessments, delivered in speeches, fundraisers and conversations with friends and allies, seem at odds with a country that he acknowledged this week was ‘really, really down,’ burdened by a pandemic, surging gas prices and spiking inflation.”

“Biden’s hopeful outlook tracks with a sense of optimism that has coursed through his nearly five-decade career and was at the center of his 2020 presidential campaign, which he said was built around restoring the ‘soul of America.’”

“Few of Biden’s closest political advisers are as bullish about the party’s prospects as the president.”

“President Biden’s recent commencement address at the University of Delaware, his alma mater, seemed like the perfect place to announce a long-awaited plan to forgive student debt, at least in the view of some administration officials,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“The May 28 speech came and went without a word about debt reduction. Mr. Biden, officials said, was still deliberating and a decision might not be announced until later this summer, frustrating some of his allies, who believe the internal discussions have been dragging on too long.”

“It is part of a pattern for Mr. Biden. Facing politically difficult decisions, the president sometimes pumps the brakes, rejecting calls to deliver a speedy outcome. Instead, according to administration officials and others close to the president, he favors deliberations that can last for months, with policy advisers analyzing the issue from multiple angles in a string of meetings.”