"For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury," Biden said. "No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward."
A year later, Biden can tout the bipartisan infrastructure law as an example of unity producing results. But his more ambitious goals of uniting America around fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, securing racial justice, confronting climate change and opposing political extremism remain unfulfilled. Biden's approval ratings have fallen sharply, and he's been unable to achieve unity even among Democrats in the Senate, where the Build Back Better bill and a filibuster carve-out for voting rights bills lack enough support to pass.
Biden's vaccine mandate for large companies was struck down by the US Supreme Court Thursday. The court's ruling "does not bode well for those people—including the court's three-justice liberal wing—who are in favor of leaving important decisions, like vaccine requirements, to the experts in federal agencies," observed Jennifer Rodgers.
The President gave a fiery voting rights speech in Georgia Tuesday. As Julian Zelizer wrote, "He asked elected officials, 'Do you want to be on the side of Dr. King or George Wallace?' in what appeared to be a question implicitly targeting Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who still refuse to accept the filibuster carve-out that would allow the voting rights legislation to overcome Republican opposition." Manchin and Sinema were unmoved, while Republicans howled at the comparison between opponents of the voting rights bills and segregationists like Wallace.
Presidents Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were able to overcome rocky stretches early in their presidencies, noted Julian Zelizer. "While Biden's current challenges are very real, they shouldn't be seen as a clear indication of where his presidency is headed," Zelizer wrote. "This challenging moment is a snapshot of his term rather than the conclusion. In modern times, we have seen many presidents recover from a difficult start."
In the Washington Post, David Von Drehle said Biden needs to change course. "A year into his presidency, Biden is too small for the office. Elected by the largest turnout in US history and by voters who thought he would restore mature, measured leadership to the White House, he has instead dwindled in the job. Presidents and their running mates are the only people elected by the entire country. That gives them the duty, and the opportunity, to rise above the Washington fray — yet Biden is being whipsawed by it. A successful president explains the present, paints the future and boosts confidence in a path from here to there. Biden is doing none of that."
Biden's voting rights speech "was aggressive, intemperate, not only offensive but meant to offend," wrote former Reagan White House speechwriter Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. "It seemed prepared by people who think there is only the Democratic Party in America, that's it, everyone else is an outsider who can be disparaged. It was a mistake on so many levels ... If a president is rhetorically manipulative and divisive on a voting-rights bill it undercuts what he's trying to establish the next day on Covid and the economy."
Yet there was ample support for Biden's emphatic embrace of the voting rights cause. Democratic National Committee chairman Jaime Harrison noted the late Rep. John Lewis "described democracy as an act. When he passed, there was bipartisan praise of his legacy. But he would not have wanted our empty words. He would have wanted action. And those of us who fail to meet this moment should think twice before invoking the name of Lewis or any other heroes who dedicated their lives to free the vote."
コメント