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So far, Joe Biden has read and played the political situation brilliantly in his first three weeks in office and he's done so in ways a lot of experts -- and I -- did not expect.
First off, the days of entering office with a low disapproval rating are gone. Maybe they will return, but Biden entered the office with a bunch of people already against him, more than any President in modern history not named Donald Trump.
But his policies have been popular -- his COVID-19 relief package is more popular than he is and the individual elements of the program are extremely popular, including the direct checks.
He's recognized this early on and yet still met with the Republicans. Why? A few reasons.
1. It allows him to contrast with Trump in showing his negotiation behavior.
2. It allows him to hear Republican ideas that might improve the bill as a whole.
1. It allows him to contrast with Trump in showing his negotiation behavior.
2. It allows him to hear Republican ideas that might improve the bill as a whole.
Most of all, he showed that he wasn't going to vilify the Republicans for disagreeing with him -- but rather make it clear their counter-proposal wasn't enough in a way that portrays it as a fundamental disagreement rather than partisan bickering.
His willingness to negotiate on the specifics, but not the basics, shows a commitment to the plan but a willingness to improve and adapt. His focus on securing vaccinations and funding for schools is key.
And he's been able to support a robust liberal policy platform because he's fulfilled his promise to surround himself with serious people and to take foreign policy and the position of the Presidency seriously, which will keep the #NeverTrump crowd satisfied for now.
It helps that Republicans have repeatedly embarrassed themselves, first with their laughable COVID-19 counter-proposal that went nowhere because even some of them knew it was too weak, to their inability to craft an intellectually honest defense of Trump during his impeachment.
He's also dodged major bullets:
He was reportedly considering Cuomo for a cabinet position which likely would have blown up in his face this week and distracted from his COVID-19 vaccination story with the news of the Cuomo nursing home death toll coverup.
He was reportedly considering Cuomo for a cabinet position which likely would have blown up in his face this week and distracted from his COVID-19 vaccination story with the news of the Cuomo nursing home death toll coverup.
(it's unclear if he elected not to have that fight with the Senate or if this information was clear from his vetting, mind you, so it could be less a bullet dodged and more an sign of a good research team)
Biden isn't trying to appeal to the FoxNews crowd, he knows they are too far gone to help. The biggest risk he's taking is a relief package that may cause mild inflation--but even that's unlikely because he knows that as we vaccinate people will want to return to the workforce.
As such, when the economy grows, so will the workforce and the people looking for jobs -- as the more vaccinations means the more businesses can reopen and more people feel comfortable looking for jobs.
Even if mild inflation does occur, that will be driven by grocery stores in the minds of most Americans, one of the only businesses that have only seen mild setbacks throughout this crisis, so it will be an easy enemy for Biden to fight as they are in a fiscal position to help.
The biggest challenge Biden will face is getting to a high enough vaccination rate to be able to establish herd immunity -- and he will likely have to rely on corporations wanting workers back in offices and businesses wanting people to vaccinate to enter their business.
But that fight is about six months down the road. Some businesses will be reluctant to pick up that fight, but others will be eager to require vaccinations, as they will see that as key in returning to whatever "normal" is going to look like going forward.
Which is why Biden has largely avoided even attacking obvious corporate villainy thus far in his Presidency. No reason to do that now when he's relatively popular and his policies are as well.
