Republican reports of the Democrats' and President Joe Biden's demise have been greatly exaggerated. A recent string of big wins by Biden and his party have helped put a serious dent in the Republican narrative that the nation's economy is tanking, gasoline prices are skyrocketing out of control, Biden's foreign policy is a disaster, and he can't even muster the full support of his own party to get his cherished programs passed in Congress. On pretty much every score, he has proven them wrong.

That doesn't mean Democrats will sail to victory in the November midterms, however. They still face a steep uphill battle to maintain their already razor-thin control of Congress. But Republicans will face a much harder time arguing that Democratic control of the White House and Congress has brought the country to the brink of disaster.

Perhaps the biggest victory of all for Biden and the Democrats was at the hands of voters in Republican-controlled Kansas, who resoundingly defeated a ballot referendum to revoke abortion rights in the state. The vote was a clear warning sign that Republicans had overreached in their efforts to impose hardline abortion restrictions.

Another victory occurred when two Rupert Murdoch newspapers that had staunchly supported former President Donald Trump — The Wall Street Journal and New York Post — published editorials questioning his fitness for another term in office, suggesting that House hearings on the Capitol insurrection were having an impact.

The Republican mantra of economic "stagnation and recession" — echoed on Sunday by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho — simply isn't panning out. A Consumer Price Index update on Wednesday showed inflation stabilizing. While it's true that inflation remains dangerously high because of surging post-pandemic consumer demand and restrictions on Russian petroleum exports, the fears of a looming recession have all but disappeared. Last week, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that payroll employment rose by 528,000 in July, bringing the nation's unemployment rate back to the healthy level it enjoyed before the pandemic.

Gasoline prices have fallen steadily for the past four months — still far above pre-pandemic levels but far more affordable than they were in the weeks after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Politically, Democrats have found ways to compromise with two moderate senators — Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona — to win their support on key measures like the Inflation Reduction Act. In the House, 47 Republicans, including Missouri Rep. Ann Wagner, joined Democrats in passing a bill to protect same-sex marriage rights. The Senate agreed overwhelmingly with Biden to admit Sweden and Finland to NATO. And U.S. special operations forces killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

It's too early to tell whether any of this will help Democratic prospects in November. But at least now, when gloom-and-doom Republicans tell voters not to believe their lying eyes, Americans will have an easier time deciding which side is telling the truth.

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