By Charles M. Blow
Al Drago for The New York Times
The coattail effect in politics is the theory that the popularity of a candidate at the top of the ticket redounds to the benefit of those in the same party down ballot.
You vote Democratic for president, then you might vote Democratic for senator or mayor.
But what do we call it when the person from whom the benefit flows is not actually on the ballot? What if the person isn’t even personally that popular?
Let’s call it phantom coattails.
That is what I believe is happening with President Biden at the moment. With a string of successes, he is building momentum and shaking off narratives of ineffectiveness.
Last week he announced that the federal government would forgive billions of dollars of student loan debt. Republicans predictably squawked about it being an unfair giveaway. Progressives complained that the plan didn’t go far enough.
