WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden and his administration went all out Thursday to play down a troubling new economic report that added to the evidence of a recession, trying to pull focus instead to major legislative progress on measures to tame inflation, reduce debt and preserve America's competitive edge. The desire to accentuate the positive reflected the political tensions that are already playing out in the runup to the midterm elections. Republican lawmakers are sounding the alarm that a downturn has already started, a claim challenged by Biden and his fellow Democrats who wanted the public to instead focus on a pair of likely wins in Congress.