LogFAQs > #952867040

Political capital doesn't exist. Voters like it when you do things they like, they don't like it when you do things they don't like.
But the popularity of ideas is not some fixed constant that constrains policymakers. In fact, politicians(especially popular ones like President Biden) can move the needle on specific ideas(for example, Biden declaring his support for fracking at a debate caused approval of fracking among Democratic voters to improve considerably). This doesn't mean they can completely reshape public opinion - far from it - but that they do have some control over how the public views a given issue.
This country will simply not survive as a democracy without difficult reform efforts that will not always be immediately popular. And Democrats are reluctant to do even the things that *are* popular, like passing new voting rights legislation.