"A flawed plan, argued with confidence, is more persuasive than no plan at all."
I remember writing that sentence in my college notebook. It sounded right. I was 19 years old. Short statements of certitude, voiced by college professors, seemed to me to be the wisdom I was paying for.
Let's try an experiment, a self-administered test. Reflect on what you understand to be the plan of action, the agenda, for a second Biden term.
Here is some white space and a photo to give you time to think.
Finish what job, exactly?
As I see it, a Biden future term protects democracy and the rule of law from Trump.
Trump continues openly to defy obedience to elections. He continues openly to defy courts. He promises to politicize the Department of Justice and the whole Civil Service system generally. He has shaped a Supreme Court that provides result-driven decisions on gerrymandering, racial discrimination, and presidential power, at least as long as the president is Trump. It is a worthy Biden goal to say simply that he is the alternative to Trump.
But what else?
John Halpin, writing on the center-left Substack site The Liberal Patriot, observes that Trump has plans:
I would add these:
-- Cut taxes on billionaires. Billionaires like that.
-- Reduce business regulations generally. Businesses like that.
-- Give more immunity to law enforcement from oversight and second-guessing. Law enforcement voters like that.
-- Openly promote Christianity and Judeo-Christian religion in the public square. Many Christians like that
So let's go back to Biden. Think again. What do we get in a second Biden term?
-- He appears finally to be doing something about the southern border, but not too much, because laws and the pro-immigration people in the Democratic coalition are uncomfortable with it.
--Biden is president when the U.S. is producing more fossil fuel energy than ever in history, and Biden won't stop that, but won't brag about it because his climate supporters in the coalition actively oppose fossil fuels. So he's sort of in-between.
-- He will continue to support Israel, but not too much because a great many people, including Jewish Democrats like moderate Chuck Schumer and progressive Bernie Sanders, believe Israel is causing unnecessary civilian deaths.
-- Biden will continue to press for lower drug prices, but not too low because profits from American consumers are what allow R&D that produces new drugs. Insulin users know he cut prices in the past. But the future is unknown.
Biden will support NATO. That is a clear thing Biden will do. Support NATO and Ukraine.
Biden is a center-left Democrat, pushed to the right by voters and to the left by the progressives in his coalition. The net result is that Biden, a poor orator and never a good persuader, has a muddled agenda except for one thing: Stop Trump.
Politically this may not be bad for Democrats. If the election is a referendum on Trump, then I suspect Trump loses. Trump scares people.
But I remember my notebook. Trump has plans for change. People who have deep reservations about Trump personally may have some policy agenda to hang onto to justify their support. "Yeah, he's erratic and sort of wild, but he will do something about the southern border."
Electing Biden would stop Trump. That is something. That isn't really a plan. It is defense.
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8 comments:
That list is utter BS. Half of it would cost billions, the other is empty rhetoric pandering to the dimwit Republican base. It also ignores climate change, the greatest challenge humanity is facing and an existential threat to civilization.
In four years Republicans passed one bill: A tax cut that largely benefitted the wealthy. They are now focused on one thing: keep their leader out of prison.
Another wise maxim is, ironically, "judge by actions not words".
The Liberal Patriot fails to mention some of Trump’s most interesting plans: mass deportations, detention camps and troops on the street.
Besides honoring his oath of office (unlike Trump), Biden also has a pretty impressive list of achievements, especially considering the craziness in Congress – the American Rescue Plan, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, etc. I think we can expect more of that from a second Biden term, along with four more years of Republicans whining without evidence of a rigged election.
But nothing is going to make Biden an inspiring orator.
It all depends on what happens in their debate in a couple of weeks. If Biden doesn’t nail it, he won’t be the nominee in August. Period.
"Electing Biden would stop Trump....That isn't really a plan".
Maybe not, but it could be considered a job. A job that needs finishing.
Biden desperately needs a positive, uplifting message. He doesn’t have one at the moment, and he doesn’t seem to have the oratorical skills that would be required to broadcast it if he did.
Michael,
FAUX News is not a reliable source of information.
Biden-Harris have done a lot of great things to improve life for us ordinary Americans.
Maybe ! It's late in the game to be switching horses. And at this late date, I'm flummoxed as to who might replace him as a solid Candidate.
It wouldn’t matter whether Biden were replaced or not. It appears that enough people are so ignorant of civics and history that fascism no longer seems a threat to them. If Abraham Lincoln were running against Trump, they’d still go for the convicted criminal who tried to overthrow the government – or especially if Abe were running against him. That’s just what Republicans prefer anymore.
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