Joe Biden The Winner, but…

This is not quite the scenario he dreamed of and prepared for. Certainly, at nearly 78 years old, Joe Biden has finally been elected president. But he hoped for a Democratic tidal wave that would have thrown Trumpism into oblivion, given it control of the Senate and enabled it to launch major reforms. Instead, he finds himself with a country cut in half, divided as never before, a weakened Democratic Party that has lost votes among blacks and Latinos, and possibly a very uncomfortable cohabitation situation. Indeed, the Democrats would have to grab two seats in the Senate – a highly unlikely scenario – to achieve a simple tie in the upper house 50-50

At the moment, Joe Biden has no control over what will happen between now and the nomination on January 20. Will Donald Trump concede his victory? Is there going to be a smooth handover? Donald Trump does not seem inclined to give way gracefully to his successor. He dispatched armadas of lawyers to try to contest elections in half a dozen states. On Friday night, he tweeted: “Joe Biden shouldn’t falsely claim the presidency. I can do it too. The legal battle is only beginning. Then, in the two months remaining in the White House, Donald Trump will be able to act more or less as he sees fit. It risks granting contracts to relatives, granting pardons to multiple advisers under the influence of justice, and especially to pass all kinds of last minute measures. In recent times, for example, the Trump administration has imposed multiple sanctions on Iran that make it more difficult to return to future negotiations.

Chief opponent names Mitch McConnell

Once in place, Joe Binds will have to deal with a number of crises from the Covid area to an economic downturn… He will probably face a Republican Senate which will have a veto power. He faces Washington’s most powerful man, Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Republicans. If we judge by the Obama presidency, the latter will systematically obstruct appointments and all reforms. In 2008, for example, when the country was in the midst of an economic crisis, the Republicans had slowed down as much as they could Barack Obama’s stimulus plan forcing him to reduce its amount.

Republicans have already started. After letting President Trump widen the deficit, they are positioning themselves as champions of fiscal austerity and slowing down hard on the new stimulus plan.

The Biden team will therefore have to select members of its administration moderate enough to have a chance to please Mitch McConnell and be confirmed in the Senate. Which will enrage the Democratic left wing. Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders – judged far too leftist – have no chance of being accepted. And even Susan Rice, the former national security adviser to Barack Obama approached to take the head of the State Department risks being rejected, because the Republicans are angry with her for the terrorist attack in Libya against the American consulate. in Benghazi.

Gone are also dreams of a presidency à la Franklin Roosevelt, the president who had taken advantage of the great crisis of 1929 to institute far-reaching reforms. Forgotten its major projects in terms of infrastructure, the fight against global warming …

How will he go about getting a vote on tax increases on high wages, reforming health care, imposing a twelve-week sick leave, and above all launching a stimulus plan to save the economy?

The only bright spot for Democrats is that Joe Biden and McConnell, who are roughly the same age, know each other and have bonded on the Senate benches. McConnell is the only Republican to attend the funeral of Beau, Biden’s son, in 2015. And he avoided attacking the Democrat over the questionable affairs of his other son Hunter during the campaign. Perhaps they will be able to find some common ground on lowering the price of medicines, for example, or on the need to inject new aid to help the economy.

At worst, if the Republicans block everything, Joe Biden can still imitate Donald Trump and act by executive order and appoint ministers without the approval of the Senate. But the biggest blockage is likely to come from the judicial branch which ultimately decides in this country on all reforms. More than 220 Conservative judges have been appointed to appellate courts under Donald Trump. And the Supreme Court is now largely dominated by six conservative judges versus three Democrats. In his speech Friday, Joe Biden called for a return to civility in politics. “It is time for our nation to come together and be reconciled. It’s not going to be easy but we have to try. ”