WaPo Fact Checker gives Biden 4 Pinocchios for saying that the new Georgia voting law is "sick … deciding that you’re going to end voting at five o’clock when working people are just getting off work."

Glenn Kessler writes: 

On Election Day in Georgia, polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and if you are in line by 7 p.m., you are allowed to cast your ballot. Nothing in the new law changes those rules.... 

So where would Biden get this perception that ordinary workers were getting the shaft because the state would “end voting at five o’clock"? We have one clue. The law used to say early “voting shall be conducted during normal business hours.” Experts said that generally means 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The new law makes it specific — “beginning at 9:00 AM and ending at 5:00 PM.”

Obviously, nearly everyone would read Biden's statement to refer to Election Day. The bit about early voting could have been used to cut Biden some slack and back off from the full 4-Pinocchio denouncement, but that would be wrong, because the new law didn't even cut back early voting. 

I'm glad to see Kessler giving 4 Pinocchios when deserved. Last month, I was critical of him for backing off to 3 and said: "Stop babying Biden! He's the damned President. If he needs to be babied, get him out of the presidency."

This is a Washington Post headline: "Biden and allies launch stimulus campaign focused on competitive battleground states."

Did they think they were praising him or are we seeing actual critique or genuine neutrality?  

Let's read: 

The early itinerary reflects a clear political calculation, with the first and second families visiting four states — Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire and Pennsylvania — that could prove crucial to maintaining Democrats’ tenuous hold on the Senate in the 2022 midterms.... 

Though public polls show that the relief package is popular with the majority of the country, administration officials — many of whom also worked in the Obama administration — say they learned lessons from Democrats’ failure to rally the public around former president Barack Obama’s stimulus package in 2009 and the Affordable Care Act in 2010. They are hoping to use the travel campaign to harness existing momentum and inform Americans how they can benefit from the relief package....

Seems as though they think they are praising him for his political acumen.

"President Biden will hold his first formal news conference before April Fools’ Day, the White House says."

"Even if he held one today, it would be the latest any new commander in chief has faced a formal question-and-answer session with the press corps in a century.... For 20 years, presidential aides have been telling me that the news conference is high risk, low reward... [But] it’s something a president can do in service of transparency and accountability even though it may not be obviously good for his political fortunes.... Presidential news conferences are hardly the apex of White House coverage. Reporters might get a sought-after moment on TV, or finally get an answer to a question they have been asking for weeks. But by definition, they don’t get scoops there..... Will reporters ask smart, probing questions on important issues and get answers that matter to Americans beyond the Beltway? Will Biden shed light on his next priorities, or which issues he thinks can wait until later in his presidency? We won’t know until this news conference happens."

That's from a WaPo piece titled "Biden is due for a news conference. But they can be risky." 

I'd say WaPo is defining expectations as low as possible. "Will reporters ask smart, probing questions"? My expectations on that are very low. I think they will baby him as much as possible.