President Joe Biden promised voters in 2020 that he knew how to make things work in Washington and could bring stability to the capital. It seemed to have a message in keeping with the more combative era brought in by Donald Trump.
But Biden won by more than 7 million votes, and as he seeks a second term, he is again trying to frame the race as a referendum on competence and governance, toward bipartisan debt limit and budget legislation. Pointing out he signed on as another on Saturday. Example of the success of his approach.
The Democratic president negotiated with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other Republicans to avert the catastrophe of a US government default – and stave off another threat until after the 2024 election – while largely protecting the domestic agenda that will lead to his Tradition became the backbone of expectations.
His approach in favor of pragmatism over Trumpian pugilism will be tested like never before in the coming campaign, despite the results he has delivered despite his approval ratings being low even among Democrats, in large part because of concerns about his age. Cause the oldest person ever to seek the presidency.
“The results speak for themselves,” said Jeff Zients, 80, Biden’s chief of staff.
“This level of support shows we got a bipartisan deal that, most importantly, protects the President’s priorities. And now we have runway to execute on the President’s priorities.”
Biden’s allies say his strategy reflects his broader view of the presidency: stripping away the daily chatter and focusing on making an impact over the long term.
“This was the quintessential Joe Biden,” said Ted Kaufman, a longtime Biden confidante and former Delaware Sen. “He really understands institutions, how they work, how they interact, and what their limits are. That’s an incredible advantage of 36 years in the Senate and eight years as vice president.
That perceived advantage – longevity – is also perhaps Biden’s steepest hill as he seeks four more years.
Biden laid out a strategy soon after Republicans took the House in November and stuck to it through negotiations despite second-guessing from members of his own party, the aide said. He pressured Republicans to define their budget priorities, then publicly handcuffed them for unpopular proposed cuts, so that he could enter negotiations with the strongest hand.
“He believes in the institutions of American governance. He has a vision of making the presidency and Congress work and work the way they were designed to,” said Mick Donilon, a senior adviser to the president. It’s contacted.”
As talks progressed, Biden ducked out of the limelight to allow Republican leaders to claim victory—necessary to sell it to his caucus—and quietly reassured Democrats that they would like the deal. The more they learned about it.
The result is an agreement that White House aides say exceeded their projections of what a budget compromise would look like with Republicans in charge of the House. It essentially freezes spending for next year instead of the massive cuts proposed by the GOP, and protects Biden’s infrastructure and climate laws and spending on Social Security and Medicare.
From the perspective of Biden’s team, it’s a far better result than his 2011 debt ceiling performance, when Biden was a negotiator for then-President Barack Obama and House Republicans forced him to accept tough budget cuts that he believes that they hindered the recovery of the country. from the Great Depression.
Biden is still under fire from some in his own party for agreeing to tougher work requirements for some federal food aid recipients and speeding up environmental reviews for infrastructure projects.
But the White House sees an upside: Permitting changes would speed up implementation of Biden’s infrastructure and climate laws, and Biden aides highlight that Congressional Budget Office projections show that veterans, homeless people And work requirements are met for those who leave. Foster care would actually expand the number of people eligible for federal food assistance.
Obama spokesman and Democratic strategist Eric Schultz said, “While the rest of us are sweating the micro-news cycle and who’s up and who’s down on Twitter, the president is playing the long game.”
“He ran for president after his predecessor to restore functionality to Washington, and it’s hard to argue with his record of doing so,” Schultz said. “He has proven that he can still achieve significant Democratic victories while working in good faith with the other party.”
Biden drew a red line in talks that the debt limit had to be extended until after the 2024 presidential election, worrying both in substance and style about the prospect of another showdown in an even more heated political climate.
His sentiment may be correct, but voters are concerned about his age and its toll, a message constantly reinforced by potential Republican challengers and the conservative media ecosystem.
Presidential historian Lindsay Chervinsky said, “Biden has rolled out a series of impressive achievements on a bipartisan basis and demonstrated he can do so without being the center of attention.” “That’s what American voters said they wanted then. But the context of 2024 will be completely different.”
He will need to argue, Biden said, that the stability he has brought is at risk by his opponents and hope that voters’ memories are long enough.
White House aides say the deal gives him “running room” through the 2024 election to focus on making people feel the effects of the legislation he signed into law, while also looking to run for another term. Start setting your priorities for what to do together. More Democrats in Congress.
Biden himself on Friday underscored the combative character of the Republican race and the stark contrast to his adult posture in the room. He called on both parties to “turn down the temperature, stop yelling for Americans to join forces” even as he criticized his efforts to raise taxes on wealthy individuals and corporations and cut tax breaks. highlighted the GOP protests of.
Republicans defended each one of these special interest loopholes, Biden said, a campaign line expected to be tested in the coming months. “Each one. But I’m going to come back. And with your help, I’m going to win.”
Despite Biden’s protests, and his goal of freeing himself and future office holders from the ability to “take mortgages” in the future, Biden is still using the debt ceiling cycle as leverage in negotiations. proved unable to break through. Historian Julian Zelizer of Princeton University said this made the agreement a “mixed bag”, one that is now abating the crisis, but one that could haunt him and subsequent presidents.
“Republicans did it again. It happened when he was vice president, it happened when he was president, and it will happen again,” he said. “A lot of Republicans always wanted strategy more than results – they didn’t stop that.”
Zelizer acknowledged that Biden may have no other choice — the proposal to use the 14th Amendment to pay off obligations without a say in Congress was untested and had its own pitfalls.
“When you have a threat like this, you have to negotiate,” he acknowledged.
But results matter to Biden’s team.
“He had his eye on the prize, which was, ‘How is this deal going to happen? And how does my doing this advance this deal?'” Donilan said. “We need to get our politics together in those moments is where it has to be. And so I think it will actually be a reassuring moment for the country.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – associated Press,