Patrick Gaspard was director of the White House Office of Political Affairs under Barack Obama, and he served as national political director for Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign. He is now president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress, a liberal public policy organization.
So, I was surprised when Gaspard responded to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s criticism of the Biden administration a few days ago on ABC’s “This Week” by saying: “Governor, it’s also a political truism that you can’t beat something with nothing. When we get to November, Americans are going to be helped to understand that there is a comparative analysis here. Every Democrat voted for a stimulus package, voted for being able to get resources into the hands of Americans, so that, in 2021, the average American family had $340 more per month than they did before the pandemic in ’20 and 2019. And that’s when you account for inflation as well. Every single Republican voted against those measures, every last one. That matters.”
Gaspard simply is wrong. In politics, it is possible to beat something with nothing. In fact, it happens all the time.
