Throughout the election campaign, as well as on many occasions since, Joe Biden has often repeated that he would reach out to his rivals and that he wanted to be a unifying president. If the polls point in the direction of positive results among the electorate, his Republican opponents do not seem infatuated by this prospect.
After years of division and aggressive rhetoric from a president who never sought to speak for all his fellow citizens, it was obvious that Joe Biden would present himself as a patriot open to negotiation and compromise. A noble objective and a reassuring tone which quickly came up against constant opposition.
The 46e President reneged on his commitments by signing an ambitious recovery plan on Thursday? I do not believe that. A pragmatic politician, he agreed from the start to drop the hike in the minimum wage to $ 15, even though this concession earned him the wrath of the most progressive of his political party.
Joe Biden did not hold on much longer to his goal of supporting a larger number of Americans who could touch the sum of $ 1,400. He agreed to reduce the number so as to speed up the process. If he did it first to secure the support of more tax-conservative Democratic senators, he also hoped to curry favor with Republicans anxious to help their constituents.
The new president may well promise sea and world in matters of national unity, to negotiate and discuss, you need an interlocutor. The Republicans have never offered serious replies to the White House’s proposals, contenting themselves with replies that lacked seriousness. Despite the polls in favor of Joe Biden and the stimulus plan, they revel in opposition or systematic obstruction. No representative or Republican senator supported the stimulus plan … None.
Joe Biden will soon have his arms full with a multitude of files, including that of immigration and the southern border, but in the meantime, he scores valuable points. Not only is he offering genuine support to his compatriots and to businesses, but the vaccination campaign is progressing at a faster rate than expected.
I admit that I do not fully understand the current strategy of the Republicans. Whether for the 2022 midterm elections or the 2024 presidential election, voters risk associating the end of the crisis with Democrats and the current administration. While it is true that we can recall the astronomical costs of the sums invested, we cannot however take any part of the merit.
Since taking office, President Biden has never supported the demise of the famous filibuster, this Senate procedure which allows the opposition to practice systematic obstruction. He is doing it because he knows full well that supporting it would tarnish his unifying varnish, but also because the abandonment of this rule could come back to haunt Democrats when they eventually become the minority again.
Despite his unifying remarks and his respect for parliamentary traditions, Biden may be forced to reconsider his position on the filibuster if he really wants his promises to come true. The political polarization is such that those around him are probably already studying this option. A moderate Democratic senator like Joe Manchin, who represents a very conservative state, should then be relentlessly courted. For the moment, he is the only bulwark between Republicans and the Democratic majority on this issue.