Biden Might Actually Be a Unifying President
This is coming from someone who didn’t vote for him
Liberals may have seen the above headline and thought to themselves: “Oh yes, another Republican who is on the Biden bandwagon!” With Conservatives, on the other hand, may be thinking: “No way, this must be a Never Trumper?”
What is about to happen on January 20 is about to be something that hasn’t happened in over 100 years. The president-elect will be inaugurated without his party possessing a majority in both the House and Senate.
Democrats don’t need to lie. They were not hoping for healing with the 2020 election. They were hoping for a big, blue wave to wash over their Republican opponents, and usher in a new age of progressivism.
The inverse was true for Republicans. They were hoping the outcome of the election would give them control of the White House and Congress so they could end the lockdowns and cancel the cancel culture.
But the outcome of this election — Democrats securing a majority in House and securing the White House, with Republicans maintaining control of the Senate — could bring about some healing for a deeply divided nation. Neither side got what they were hoping for during the 2020 election, but they did get to walk away with victories.
And isn’t that the beauty of our federal system? The ability to compromise? The fact that our elections can result in a mixed-party government, instead of complete regime turnover?
I think the next two years are going to be incredibly important for both sides because the side that can “win” these next two years could dramatically shift the balance of power for the next upcoming decades. Here’s what I think “winning” means for each party:
How Do Democrats Win 2020 to 2022?
The Democratic Party must prove to the American people that the party’s moderates are in control, even if the radicals like Bernie Sanders or Ilhan Omar appear to drive the narrative and headlines.
Democrats need to show that they are in touch with people in the middle of the country. Geographically and culturally. Yes, Biden won the presidency, but he did not gain control of the Senate, and Republicans surprisingly almost took the majority in the House.
This means that there were people who voted Biden for president, and then voted Republican down-ticket. This is a signal to the Democrats that many Americans don’t want Trump, but we also don’t want the Democrats’ radical agenda either.
However, if the Biden administration is open to compromises, it might convert some of those mixed-ticket voters into some reliable blue voters.
How do Republicans win 2020 to 2022?
I know this will be unpopular, but the Republican Party needs to distance itself from President Trump.
Liberals had Trump Derangement Syndrome. But what this election showed was that independents also had Trump Exhaustion Syndrome.
In a sense, independent voters said “I’m not buying what the left is selling, but I am done with the chaos that the Trump White House has wrought.”
Republicans also need to work with the Biden Administration to get some legislation done, but they need to take the lead in legislation, not just be revert to obstructionists.
They also need to become the party that says “look at that” And by that, I mean Republicans should say “look at that legislation we championed,” or “look at that radical agenda being pushed by the Democrats.”
Why Americans are going to win 2020 to 2022
I think the biggest winners of the next two years are going to be all Americans. We are going to have two parties that are going to be competing for your vote during the 2022 midterms.
Democrats will need to stop calling every Republican a racist, otherwise the promise of healing and unity that was put forth by president-elect Biden will fall on deaf ears.
Republicans will need to put forward some Americaca first legislation, so their candidates will be able to run on something in 2022 and 2024. They cannot afford to simply sit back and do nothing, because when they tried that tactic between 2010 to 2012 Mitt Romeny got absolutely crushed in what seemed like was going to be a very tight election.
Yes, there is a chance that both parties divulge into their worst tendencies. Democrats could go let the radicals dominate the airwaves and alienate the majority of Americans. Republicans could sit back and just critique ideas put forward by progressives, but fail to create any meaningful legislation. But I think that spells doom for their political careers.
Career politicians on both sides of the aisle don’t want to relinquish their cushy government jobs and just become another pundit on CNN or Fox News filling in time between another Huggies ad.
I didn’t vote for him, but Biden is my president.
#Takes2toUnify
