When Joe Biden announced a new OSHA regulation that would mandate vaccines in public and private workplaces, it stirred up a lot of controversy. The right was outraged at this attack on private business and the costs and effects it would have on them. The left was fighting back, adamant that it was right and just.

Since that announcement, though, we have seen nothing in terms of language for this regulation. It’s almost as if it was, perhaps, a distraction.

Maybe Joe Biden was trying to distract from the fact that his administration killed ten innocent people, including children and a U.S. aid worker. Maybe he was trying to cover up for worsening COVID or economic numbers. Whatever the cause, it seems more and more likely that he was attempting to stave off bad public opinion. Turns out that didn’t actually work out well.

NEW from @axios – For the first time, public distrust outweighs trust in @JoeBiden to provide accurate COVID-19 information.

Let’s remember what Biden announced in early September, around the inflection point… 👇 pic.twitter.com/nyri3F7Zd9

— Christina Pushaw (@ChristinaPushaw) September 28, 2021

Here’s more from Axios:

For the first time in his presidency, Joe Biden faces a trust deficit among Americans when it comes to COVID-19, according to the latest installment of the Axios/Ipsos Coronavirus Index.

Why it matters: The latest findings point to malaise more than fear. But malaise could spell real trouble for a Democratic president who built his support on a pledge to steer the nation out of crisis — and whose party’s bare House and Senate majorities are on the line in 2022.

The big picture: Americans have become a bit less worried about living their lives. The respondents who see large risk in airline travel, dining out or visiting family and friends are at their lowest shares since mid-July.

[…]

What they’re saying: “He won on COVID, he surfed the first six months on COVID, but he’s being challenged by it now because there’s not a clear resolution in sight,” Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. public affairs, said of Biden.

This is a big issue for the Biden team. His campaign actually allowed him to say, repeatedly, that he’d be putting a stop to the virus. Yet, here we are, going into the tenth month of his administration, and the south has just finished surging while northern states are starting their next surge. There is actually no end in sight, and it’s becoming more and more likely that this virus will be around in some form forever.

The Biden administration has been focused on talking points rather than action, and the polling is starting to show it pretty consistently. The only poll to show him above water in approval was a Fox News poll from around mid-September. The RealClearPolitics polling average has Biden’s approval/disapproval at 45.4/50.6. He’s down five points, and the gap doesn’t appear to be closing anytime soon.

At the same time, Democrats can’t get anything done in Congress. They are fighting among themselves and Republicans seem content to let them keep doing it. There’s no need for Republicans to lift a finger here. The Democrats are killing themselves in Congress and in the polls. It’s somewhat reminiscent of 2008 to 2010, when the Democrats had complete control and didn’t know how to handle it. Back then, they used their numbers to force through pretty extreme legislation (the Affordable Care Act) and talk down to the American voters. The American public “clapped back,” as the kids would say, and began whittling away at their majority.

This time, however, the Democrats barely have a majority in either chamber of Congress and the progressives are still acting like they have a supermajority. The more moderate Democrats are panicking because they know how this story ends.

The Biden administration, however, is of absolutely no help to them. They are all in on the progressive legislative agenda and they don’t seem to realize that they are hurting their party.

Frankly… I’m here for it.