What does a BIDEN Presidency look like?

[celedhring]

I guess this is always going to be disadvantage of the Left. On the Right you have people who get all their submissive and authoritarian erogenous zones tickled when required to fall in line behind the latest leader chosen. People on the left are much less inclined to do that.

Yes and no. Yanks correct me if I'm wrong, but during 2017-2018 the Republican party seemed completely uncapable of passing legislation despite dominating all the branches of government (i.e. the attempt to repeal Obamacare via legislation fell flat on its face). So it's not like they are such an homogeneous coordinated front.

[frunk]

Yes and no. Yanks correct me if I'm wrong, but during 2017-2018 the Republican party seemed completely uncapable of passing legislation despite dominating all the branches of government (i.e. the attempt to repeal Obamacare via legislation fell flat on its face). So it's not like they are such an homogeneous coordinated front.

Where they are effective at circling their wagons is when protecting their "tribe".   Democrats tend to throw their members to the wolves as soon as there is anything they don't like.

[grumbler]

AOC is wasting no time... What's the strategy to force the Republican senate to accept progressives in the cabinet?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/08/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-ends-truce-by-warning-incompetent-democratic-party

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ends truce by warning 'incompetent' Democratic party

I don't think she has a strategy.  She's just pissed off the "establishment" of the party blames her team for not winning more House seats.

Wasn't her "team" like the most successful of the Democratic party in these elections?

I don't think so.  They took no seats away from republicans.  That's the measure of success that matters. 

[Crazy_Ivan80]

I guess this is always going to be disadvantage of the Left. On the Right you have people who get all their submissive and authoritarian erogenous zones tickled when required to fall in line behind the latest leader chosen. People on the left are much less inclined to do that.

if we look at where the leftist radicals find themselves ideologically I wouldn't be so sure they don't get their "submissive and authoritarian erogenous zones tickled when required to fall in line behind the latest leader chosen".
The only redeeming factor there is that there are so many radical leftist ideological variations at play and that they generally all hate each other's guts, meaning they can't form front.
Which is a bloody good thing given the history of radical leftism.

[Solmyr]

You guys do realize that your "leftist radicals" are basically like the centrist social democrats in Europe, right?

[Valmy]

Yeah our Radical Left is Bernie. He just wants to tax the capitalists, not hang them with the rope they sold him.

[Josquius]

Will not AOC making a lot of noise help Biden? It underlines just how moderate and centrist he is to have an actual leftist making a splash.

[The Larch]

In any case, it seems to me that all this talk of Dems infighting is wildly blown out of proportion. My impression is that they've actually managed a pretty tight campaign with everyone doing their part and former rivals coming together to help Biden. Now that the campaign has been won it will be a different deal, but so far all the dem "rebels" were actually pretty good team players for Biden.

[Sheilbh]

You guys do realize that your "leftist radicals" are basically like the centrist social democrats in Europe, right?

It is a weird culture war issue. So Kasich complained about the radical left talking about things like "socialism" but said Biden should focus on policy priorities like establishing nationwide broadband and protecting social security

Apparently this would help reach out to Republicans

[FunkMonk]

Yeah, the Biden campaign benefited from the fact that the Dems united behind him pretty firmly. It's helpful when everyone more or less actually personally likes the candidate. Bernie and Biden are apparently good friends.

Big contrast from the Hillary campaign, where it always seemed there was lots of sniping back and forth between the progressive wing and the Clinton people, and Bernie really dragging out his endorsement.

[FunkMonk]

The above makes me wonder if any other Democratic candidate would have won against Donald, now that the election is more or less behind us and we know what we know.

There was a lot of gnashing of teeth when Biden became the presumptive Dem nominee. A lot of posters here, including myself, were unconvinced by Joe and thought the Dems had better choices.

As it turned out, Joe united the party, returned much of the Midwest to the Dems, and flipped Arizona and Georgia in an election where 71 million Americans voted for Donald Trump! Would any of the other candidates have been able to do that? I don't know.

[Razgovory]

I still want to weaken the Presidency.  Trump showed that there's a lot of holes in our laws.  Things that Presidents don't do only because it violated norms rather than the law.  The imperial Presidency needs to die.

[DGuller]

The above makes me wonder if any other Democratic candidate would have won against Donald, now that the election is more or less behind us and we know what we know.

There was a lot of gnashing of teeth when Biden became the presumptive Dem nominee. A lot of posters here, including myself, were unconvinced by Joe and thought the Dems had better choices.

As it turned out, Joe united the party, returned much of the Midwest to the Dems, and flipped Arizona and Georgia in an election where 71 million Americans voted for Donald Trump! Would any of the other candidates have been able to do that? I don't know.

I got a couple of things badly wrong in 2020, and Joe Biden was probably the biggest one.  I really did think for a long time that he was a completely uninspired choice, so uninspired that he could hand Trump a second term due to lack of enthusiasm.  I now think that he was the best candidate Democrats could have, and I think that other candidates may have very well lost us the election.

[Malthus]

You guys do realize that your "leftist radicals" are basically like the centrist social democrats in Europe, right?

It is a weird culture war issue. So Kasich complained about the radical left talking about things like "socialism" but said Biden should focus on policy priorities like establishing nationwide broadband and protecting social security

Apparently this would help reach out to Republicans

I guess the real issue though is whether the policies expressed can win over American voters, who tend to be far more right wing.

Democrats have to win elections in a climate where nearly half the voters were willing to vote for Trump and the current Republican Party. The balance is this:

- push leftish policies to fire up a progressive base and get them to vote;

- but risk firing up the right against you/failing to win over voters in the middle.

[fromtia]

I'm very very pleased, like nearly all of you I think , that Biden won the presidency. Trump is booted and the toboggan ride to hell has been stopped for a moment as we have collectively grabbed a passing tree branch and halted.

Biden won a great win, not the nuclear bombardment landslide  that was hinted at, assured even by polling and pundits, but decent enough. Didn't seem to have much of a platform , some "soul of the nation" stuff , pretty meaningless, campaigning seemed to center around watching Trump actually campaign. Might have been the best strategy. I think that Biden is a pretty uninspiring candidate , but I take a great deal of comfort in imagining that people just really, really didn't want Trump to be president.

Not expecting much from his presidency - return to the 2015 status quo, cabinet of business titans and a perhaps a couple of Republicans, absolutely nothing for the progressive wing despite them fighting hard on his behalf. If the people in GA who worked hard to flip it for Biden can do the same thing in January, that would be amazing, if not blocked in the Senate obviously.

Return to default position of the last 70 years on Foreign policy, put some lipstick on the ACA and pretend it's good. No substantive reforms to SC, Healthcare, Police etc. Overturn Trumps executive orders by executive order and return to Obama immigration.

And while Im thrilled, as a non citizen, that Stephen Miller will now not be legislating against me and my family, Im very fearful of the future. If Democrats dont do something, anything, to start addressing or understanding why 70 million people voted for Trump they are going to be boned in 24 and in the future. Start addressing the cares and concerns of working Americans outside wealthy suburbs, in poorer areas, in economically ruined areas and rural areas and do it like it's a fucking emergency, because it is.