I’m generally sympathetic to Joe Biden as a person and think that in most respects his administration would be hard to distinguish from a third Obama term. He’d staff the government will good, decent, well-meaning and competent people and he’d do his honest best to be a president America could take pride in. I’m not sure a third Obama term is what the country really needs right now, or that that is the best we can do, or that Biden would perform nearly as well as Obama when it came time to make the really hard decisions. I’m not even sure, at his age, if he’s up for the challenge. But I’m not hostile to Joe Biden. Except, perhaps, when I hear him talk about Republicans as if they’re people who can be reasoned with or partnered with in good faith negotiations.
https://twitter.com/lizcgoodwin/status/1192182232368263168
One way or another, the Republicans will one day be free of Donald Trump, and they will change as a result. But the main way political parties change is through the churn of elections. Their vulnerable members are the most likely to be interested in bipartisanship, but they’re also the first to lose. The Democrats didn’t become more interested in working with Trump when centrist senators Claire McCaskill of Missouri and Joe Donnelly of Indiana lost their reelection bids. The same thing is happening on a greater scale to the GOP as the Democrats continue to pick off lawmakers who come from competitive states and districts. If Joe Biden wins a resounding victory over Trump, he will also probably see many of the likeliest Republican partners for bipartisan legislation bounced out of office at the same time. And, honestly, there aren’t many partnering candidates to begin with.
It’s true that when political parties lose consistently and for a long time, they can begin to moderate their positions and move to the center. This is basically what happened with the Democrats in the early nineties. But, as the anti-government party, the Republicans are more comfortable being in the opposition than the Democrats. They spent about sixty years in a near perpetual congressional minority between 1933 and 1995. What finally brought them out of the wilderness wasn’t moderation but the triumph of the radical conservative movement. They seem more than happy to lose elections if the alternative is to work with Democrats.
If anything, the possibility of bipartisanship is more remote that ever. First, the Democrats have very few conservative members left in Congress, so there’s no longer much ideological overlap to work with. Second, the rise of right-wing media has brought along an extremely strong enforcement mechanism for highlighting and punishing any softness or compromise from Republican officeholders, very much including their leadership.
I have no doubt a President Biden would have a vastly more cordial relationship with Senate Republicans than a President Warren or Sanders or Harris. But they’d still feel compelled to oppose him at every turn because personal relationships can only help on things that have very low visibility to the enforcers at Fox News and other conservative media outlets.
President Biden would not find a receptive Republican audience for any part of his platform in Congress. More likely, the GOP would change their position on an issue rather than maintain it if was consistent with Biden’s view. They would characterize everything he proposed as radical and budget-busting and in the service of non-white welfare cheats. They would shut down the government and default on the national debt to extract the maximum amount of concessions.
This isn’t just a problem for Biden. Things would be basically the same but more heated if the next president pushed a more progressive agenda. No one can magically fix the Republican Party or make its members cooperative. No one can enact their agenda under the present rules because the Republicans will have the power to block almost all substantive legislation.
But Biden keeps saying that he’s got the magic touch. It’s somewhere between insulting and dishonest to hear him talk about the Republicans having an “epiphany” if he becomes president. This is a party that is sticking with a criminal and incompetent and immoral and reckless president because, like Israel’s right-wing Likud Party, they don’t turn on their leaders.
I wish Biden were right. But I’ve been blogging for about 15 years now, and all that time I’ve been saying that the Republicans are far worse than most people understand or are prepared to admit. And they have kept proving me correct over and over and over again. They aren’t going to reverse course and get better. What they’re going to do, eventually, is circle the drain for long enough that they’re flushed into the annals of history.
WOW, Biden is stupid. Wasn’t he VP for 8 years while Republicans pissed in President Obama’s face at every opportunity. Is he unaware that Republicans pledged to block EVERYTHING PRESIDENT OBAMA TRIED TO DO – REGARDLESS OF MERIT for political gain?
Biden is too stupid to be – anything elected.
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And I wish I could believe that Joe Biden were cynical enough to say it for the sake of votes and then have some devious plan to destroy Republicans, all while keeping a smile on his face and slapping his good friends on the back. But I just don’t see that in him.
Joe Biden knows that they had no interest in negotiating with Barack Obama. He was told this by his friends/contacts with Arlen Specter and other “moderate” R’s during the transition before being sworn in. So there are three possibilities:
1. He’s saying what needs to be said to be elected, knows it’s bullshit, and doesn’t plan to really follow through on it because voters care about results.
2. Biden believed that they were intransigent to Obama, but he also believes things will be different with him and that they were hostile to Obama for what was “best left unsaid reasons”.
3. Biden doesn’t believe it, but he also believes “governing” means to be rolled in negotiations over scotch and “we all get something out of it”
Let’s just say, when Michael Bennet calls you out in the debate for being too “moderate” in negotiations with Mitch McConnell, it doesn’t matter what the possibility is since it is a guarantee you will be rolled.
3 seems the most likely to me.
It definitely is part of it, but I also think it’s partially number 2, and a “but this is how things are supposed to work!” nostalgia that remains so ingrained in his head that he is physically and mentally incapable of recognizing the truth. And I understand! I’m not a revolutionary, although I am a socialist and use that ideology to guide my politics. But revolutions (real ones) are dangerous for everyone, they can’t be contained, they can be taken over and hijacked, and spiral into total war.
But you cannot keep getting punched and taking it. Democracy is worth fighting for.
I think there’s another possibility. As a “centrist” Biden leans to the right on policy. He doesn’t want to harm the “job creators.” He doesn’t want to cause the banks or insurance companies any pain. For all its virtues, the ACA was a net positive for insurance companies, given the hundreds of billions in subsidies the ACA provided them. Hence, he’s not for M4A, green new deal, taxing the wealthy, and other progressive policies that have made Warren and Sanders front runners in the primaries.
In order to achieve these things without appearing to be a sellout to rank and file democratic voters, the centrist needs GOP opposition. This way they can say, “well, we tried, but these crumbs are the best we could get.” This is why, I believe, in negotiations, their opening bid tends to be what the other side says they might live with, only to get bargained down from there. You don’t even have to be a Harvard grad; a decent poker player knows this is a suckers game. And yet, we’re to believe these guys keep doing this shit over and over because they don’t know any better? Please! Obama getting the ACA rather than the public option was actually a win-win for the centrists and the GOP, both of whom’s first priority is, do no harm to the purse strings of the owners, at worst, and at best make sure they get something out of it. The 2009 banking bailout was the same thing — help the well heeled first, and never mind their role in bringing about the disaster in the first place. Homeowners were left to twist in the wind, but again, as much as they may say it, the fortunes and well-being of middle class isn’t their first priority.
Biden’s hope is that the GOP will be partners in this centrist charade. The “epiphany” he says they’ll have is they’ll realize, the centrists who are trying to protect the same people they’re protecting are back in the saddle, and we can get much of what we want with minimal political pain, and some gain even, by playing their game, while still flummoxing progressives and “the people.”
I’m not quite sure I agree with your framing, but yes, many people are moderate and/or conservative ob policy and it’s understandable that people have differences of what they think is most effective. But what you described won’t happen either unless he wins the Senate. And I’m not even describing differences in policy because if you look at his record he wasn’t the most conservative Dem in the world and many years his votes looked like Ted Kennedy’s.
I highly recommend you read “American Carnage” by Tim Alberta. Politics is not as corrupt as you think. People legitimately believe in things. And then you have people like Joe Lieberman who voted to kill a public option out of spite. In the end it’s about numbers and how you get there. Many Democrats grew up in time of Reagan and fear backlash from wielding power, and this style of governing is all they know.
Exactly the reason the old need to be removed. They still have a hard time realizing that they are not the natural governing party, and have PTSD. That’s not their fault but it means that all things being equal a younger democrat is always better than an older.
5
“Mark my words. Mark my words…”
You know, this is reminiscent of Der Trumper’s absurdly cryptic 2016 statements on how he was going to defeat ISIS, his beautiful “plan” that he had (secretly) crafted in his own brain and without the input of even his “best” generals. Because doofus low IQ Trumper knew more than anyone, about every subject. So at a bare minimum Uncle Joe needs to be questioned as to whether he understands that Moscow Mitch destroyed Obama’s (democratically legitimate) presidency in 2009-10, long before Trump was considered anything other than a ridiculous Reality TV circus barker, mafia boss fanboy and Russian money launderer. Then Joe needs to explain why his beloved Repubs did that to Obama (and him). And then exactly why it would be different when low IQ Joe is running the show as opposed to Obama. And if Joe thinks the answer is supposedly racism or radicalism, then he needs to say that–or something. If he doesn’t supply any of these links in the thought chain, then this is just another form of braindead Trumpism, lying to voters, treating them as imbeciles and delivering baseless nonsense (in the guise of wishful thinking) for mass consumption. Or is it truly to be an “epiphany”? (haha)
But until then, we are to be treated to serial pious predictions that the paralysis will indeed break and Gub’mint Work Again, but (only!) if indispensable Uncle Joe is unleashed to kill his genial senate Repubs with affable understanding and WH luncheons. When last we visited this mania, it was (hopefully) regarded as a brilliant strategy to win the votes of the 2-4% of confused low-info “independents” in the general, while causing dyspepsia and teeth gnashing for most in the sane Dem primary electorate. Looks like that (generous) appraisal is wearing off and this ridiculous schtick by Uncle Joe is wearin’ a mite thin….
Has Biden implied he would only serve one term? I thought I heard that. Would a resounding victory with coattails that proves this perspective is bullshit – followed by a “normal” 2024 election – end the idea of bipartisanship? Isn’t Biden’s message “A President You Can Safely Ignore” and doesn’t that work with this BS pablum?
Biden seems to be stuck in the 50’’s.
Mid century modern only makes sense in residential architecture and furnishings,in a niche market .
Interesting that “the kids” find mid century modern furnishings very attractive, but politically they are the opposite of Joe Biden and are attracted to Bernie Sanders and other progressives.
I don’t mind Biden’s epiphany bs anymore. Everytime Trump attacks him and his oh so friendly senate buddies say nothing or join in it kneecaps his message more effectively than any warning. Since I dont think hes a good candidate and no longer has the chops to be president let his self immolation continue.
5
Sad to say, I think Biden’s time has passed. These sorts of remarks about the how the republicans will turn over a new leaf just seem feeble-minded. They’re both counterproductive and wrong, not a good place to be in.
On a trivial (related?) note, what is up with Biden eating ice cream in public? I like ice cream; I get it. What I don’t get is the pictures of him eating. And what is that supposed to say about him? Why are these pictures circulating? Did I miss a Biden/ice cream meme memo?
Unfortunately my family is politically divided, so I occasionally have to hear the insights my parents have reached by listening to 30 years of Fox and Rush.
And… they’ve despised Joe Biden since the 1987 Robert Bork hearings. Any compromise with Biden, ever, will be totally unacceptable.
That Joe Biden doesn’t get this is unbelievable to me. Literally unbelievable. 🙂