CNN offers the President political
advice, after sympathizing with his rotten luck, what with the Taliban's betrayal of his trust, Delta unexpectedly cratering job creation, Republicans inexplicably continuing to push their agenda, and Democrat legislators balking at a couple of the fringes of the leftist agenda. Should he pick projects with broad appeal to Americans that can command a clear majority in Congress? Oh, gosh, no. He should forcefully support the Democrat traitors until they fall back in line:
What's Biden to do in the face of all these obstacles? The most important thing he can focus on at this point is keeping his party in line. He will need to lean in harder on Manchin and Sinema, giving them the support they need to retain their electoral standing while offering not-so-subtle reminders about the importance of putting on a united front to fulfill his agenda. If Democrats are perpetually stuck in a legislative logjam as the nation struggles with broken infrastructure, natural disasters, and an ongoing pandemic, there's little chance voters will give the party another shot at trying to address the many problems they face going into 2022.
There's also the danger that he will be distracted by the need to solve immediate problems with visible competence and honesty. No one cares about that stuff: voters want him to create a nationwide standard of ballot fraud and undermine the nation's energy independence, STAT.
Biden also has to actively shape his message and agenda, rather than react to events and circumstances as they occur. As the going gets tough, it is easy for presidents to be caught on the wrong foot and get swept up in the noise of the moment. What great presidents learn is that focus means a great deal. Presidents have the power to keep the nation — and Congress — on track. They have the ability to keep pushing specific issues like the urgent need to protect voting rights or address climate change — even if the news cycle veers off into different directions.
Keeping the news from veering off into unauthorized directions is pretty straightforward: just get the press back in line, where they're begging to be, anyway. Maybe they need more "support," too. That should help keep all those pesky voters from veering off into savaging the President's competence in the polls.
4 comments:
OK, so riddle me this, Batman: What "support" can Biden* give Manchin and Sinema which will endear them to THEIR voters?
He could also prioritize, to allow the Senators leeway to win some of their fights in return for losing others. I think he could win on infrastructure by yielding on election security and gun rights, for example.
But it's all or nothing, all the time.
I think he meant, you know, "support" them by threatening them within an inch of their lives, till they do the right thing and thank him later. That's how I understand the advice about "not-so-subtle reminders."
A couple quibbles....
Delta unexpectedly cratering job creation....
Delta isn't doing anything; government overreaction to Delta is doing nearly all of it. Much of the rest is teachers union reaction in their attempt to extort ever more control.
From the quoted para: He will need to lean in harder on Manchin and Sinema....
He won't have to lean very hard. They'll fall in line at vote time, just like they've done all along while piously chanting "bipartisan required" in the interims (intera?) right up to their prior votes.
Also from the quoted: Biden also has to actively shape his message and agenda....
That is, in fact, what he tried to do with the late Afghan government. Didn't work there, either.
Eric Hines
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