President-elect Joe Biden is showing the Democratic Party and all Americans how to be thankful this Thanksgiving season. He is working hard to re-set the Ship of State on an even keel after passing through four of the most tumultuous years in American history. Biden is seeking to return the nation to normalcy after four very scary years.
Historians will someday write the narrative of how Donald Trump almost destroyed the institutions of American democracy. These scholars will explain just how challenged the American democratic institutions had become and how 80 million American voters saved the nation a second term of President Trump. The incoming administration is preparing to help Americans shift gears and watch the U.S. Government conduct itself the way it has always done-- domestically as well as globally.
President-elect Biden appears committed to creating a government that will be ready to function on day 1. Regardless of their deep-seated anger and animosity towards President Trump and his sycophants, there has not been a single word about the need for retribution. Biden truly appears as if he wants to govern; to address the pandemic, distribute a safe vaccine, and help the economy return safely. He does not want to punish or score points.
Beyond these domestic crises Biden faces an array of international issues, but here as well he appears to be committed to moving ahead and not blaming the outgoing Administration. Biden knows he will have enough challenges dealing with the GOP leadership in Congress. There will obstacles to securing majorities where he can in order to cobble together the necessary votes to bring Washington back to “regular orders.”
Joe Biden already has sent a very clear message in his announced appointments and those rumored to be in line for jobs. Biden wants experienced leaders to manage the Government and individuals who also reflect his winning coalition. It will be a highly competent, diverse, and mixed group of professionals who will be dedicated to repairing the damage created over the past four years.
The Biden Administration has not given the progressive wing of the Party a veto on his appointments so far, nor is it likely to do so. Joe Biden’s team will listen and garner input from the Progressives, but Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and the “squad” as well as their supporters will have to relax. Biden knows that the polls have shown that calls to “defund the police” and “socialism” were the major reasons that many races throughout the country were so close. The President-elect can address the progressive agenda but not in the polarizing manner that enabled the Republicans to frame the debate and defeat many Democrats.
Progressive Democrats should be as thankful as moderates that Trump is leaving. They should recognize this Thanksgiving weekend that Joe Biden won, and he is committed to “binding up the nation’s wounds.” If the new Biden Administration is to succeed, then it needs backing throughout the party. Like Joe Biden himself, all Democrats need to be singularly focused in moving ahead and not beating up the team that is leaving. If the Biden Administration can manage the spread of the pandemic, distribute a vaccine, and rebuild the economy, history will insure that the Trump Administration receives it rightfully end. Democrats need to appreciate what they have that they have much to be thankful for, not lose track of the forest because of the trees.
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