Can a President Biden lead a divided America?
New Hampshire Democrat Frank Fahey once clashed with Joe Biden on national TV. Now he thinks the former vice president is exactly the bridge-builder America needs. 听
When Mr. Biden was first running for president, in 1987, he derided Mr. Fahey for asking about his academic track record, boasting that he probably had a higher IQ than the New Hampshire educator. The moment went viral, 1980s-style, and an already beleaguered Mr. Biden dropped out of the race shortly thereafter.
Today Mr. Fahey, now retired and an avid follower of nitty-gritty congressional deliberations, says he鈥檚 seen a mellowing in the erstwhile Delaware senator 鈥� born not only of professional experience, including 36 years in the Senate,听but also of the personal trials of a man who lost his young wife and daughter, and in 2015, his adult son Beau.
Why We Wrote This
To many, the election was a clear indication that governing as if there鈥檚 a mandate for either party鈥檚 vision is not going to work. Divided government could, however, provide an opportunity for modest bipartisan progress.
鈥淚 think he has compassion, which is something we need right now,鈥� says Mr. Fahey by phone, while watching TV coverage of the ongoing vote tallies in Arizona and Georgia.
As of press time, Mr. Biden was leading in four key swing states still counting the remaining 2% to 8% of ballots听鈥� with a growing lead in the biggest prize of Pennsylvania, which alone would be enough to give him the White House.听While President Donald Trump and his campaign have launched court challenges, and many have cautioned against calling the election prematurely, Democrats as well as Republicans have pushed back on the president鈥檚 allegations of widespread irregularities.听Control of the Senate will likely come down to two Georgia runoffs, the last nine of which have produced Republican winners, even when the Democrats led in the initial vote.
After a particularly divisive four years, the extreme wings of both parties are revved up, and any suspicions about the fairness and credibility of the election could lead to further agitation. But many others across the country 鈥撎齠rom voters to mayors to state representatives 鈥� see this election as a clear indication that trying to govern as if there鈥檚 a mandate for either party鈥檚 vision of sweeping change is not going to work.听听
Perhaps counterintuitively, the outcome that currently looks most likely 鈥� a Democratic president with a Republican Senate and more evenly balanced House 鈥撎齝ould provide an opportunity for America to regroup and see modest bipartisan progress. That鈥檚 in part because Mr. Biden has long-standing relationships with many Republican lawmakers, particularly Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.
鈥淐ertainly a large part of the country is suffering from Trump fatigue,鈥� says Ed Goeas, a Republican strategist in Alexandria, Virginia. 鈥淸Mr. Biden] has a real opportunity ... to work from the center and not be pulled into what appears to be a desire on the part of the progressives to go to war.鈥�
Still, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican, emphasized the importance of not calling the election prematurely, even as it appeared increasingly likely that Mr. Biden would win.
鈥淓very vote needs to be counted,鈥� says Governor Whitman, the national chairwoman of Republicans and Independents for Biden, adding that the Trump administration鈥檚 court challenges should be taken seriously. 鈥淭hose will need to be heard, so that people have confidence that it is what we want it to be 鈥撎齛 free and fair election.鈥�
The new-old power couple听
Should the Senate remain in Republican hands while the White House goes to Democrats, Senator McConnell and a President Biden would become the nexus of power in Washington. The two have a strong working relationship and a long Senate history in common, including working on legislation听. At Beau Biden鈥檚 2015 funeral, the Kentucky senator was the only Senate Republican to attend.
Vice President Biden was Senator McConnell鈥檚 go-to negotiating partner in the Obama administration, together getting the country past the shoals of debt and fiscal crises. Around the White House, the vice president was called 鈥渢he McConnell whisperer.鈥� To the surprise of many, the Senate stepped up its听productivity听when Republicans took control in the last two years of the Obama presidency 鈥� working out deals on infrastructure, budget, education, and Medicare with Democrats.听
Though the country has become increasingly polarized since then, both Mr. Biden and Senator McConnell are likely to be thinking ahead to how history will view them, says Steve Voss, a political scientist at the University of Kentucky in Lexington.
鈥淪o that鈥檚 an opportunity for them to not worry too much about the clamor among the noisy wings of their party,鈥� says Professor Voss.
Still, Senator McConnell鈥檚 pitch to voters this year was to keep the Senate in Republican hands as a 鈥渇irewall鈥� against Democrats. 鈥淢itch is not about public policy; Mitch is about power. Anything that makes Biden look good, he鈥檚 going to think twice about,鈥� said former Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, in a preelection interview.听
As majority leader, Senator McConnell would control the Senate agenda, and can be expected to block progressive priorities, including progressive Cabinet picks and judges,听if Mr. Biden were to nominate them. The Kentucky lawmaker鈥檚听strength, said听Senator Heitkamp, a听centrist from North Dakota, is his tight control of his caucus.听The听way for Mr. Biden to break that is to work with individual Republican senators, such as Susan Collins, who won reelection in Maine, or Rob Portman of Ohio.
Senator McConnell may find it harder to control his caucus as a number of senators consider their own presidential bids in 2024. 鈥淭here鈥檚 going to be a lot of competitive pressures on him. There will be [conservative] folks who want to burn the place down and moderates who will say, 鈥榃e need to heal the country,鈥欌�� said John Feehery, former spokesman under Republican House Speaker Dennis Hastert, also in a preelection interview.
By the same token, Mr. Biden could face significant pressure from 鈥渢he Squad鈥� and other progressive members of Congress who would have vastly preferred a President Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren. But in that regard, Senator McConnell could become a useful foil, allowing Mr. Biden to blame the majority leader for stymieing a progressive agenda, rather than dealing head-on with intra-Democratic divides.听 听 听听
鈥淏iden will have to take very modest baby steps in terms of policy innovation ... if he鈥檚 going to get anything through the Senate,鈥� says Charles S. Bullock III, a professor of political science at the University of Georgia. 鈥淸That] will frustrate the left wing of the party but also possibly give him an excuse for why he can鈥檛 go further left.鈥�
A trickle-down effect
If Mr. Biden begins his presidency by rekindling and building on relationships with his former Republican Senate colleagues, and they are game to work together, that could have a trickle-down effect to their constituents, says Martha Hennessey, a Democratic state senator in New Hampshire.
鈥淚f they are telling the people they represent ... 鈥楾his is OK, we鈥檙e going to give this guy a chance,鈥� ... if they even give a hint of that 鈥� people will start to calm down, and breathe deeply,鈥� says Senator Hennessey, whose party just lost control of both chambers of the state legislature in the nastiest election she ever recalls seeing in New Hampshire.
Determining how the country got so polarized 鈥� and whether it was driven or simply reflected by Washington 鈥� is difficult. But most political scholars agree a clear turning point was 1994, when Georgia Rep. Newt Gingrich led a Republican charge to take back the House. After years of compromising with Democratic-dominated chambers of Congress, he argued it was time for 鈥渢rench warfare,鈥� says Professor Bullock of the University of Georgia.
The GOP takeover that vaulted Mr. Gingrich into the speaker鈥檚 chair 鈥� and the no-holds-barred approach behind it 鈥� did not go unnoticed by other ambitious politicians, who began adopting similar techniques, on both sides of the aisle. During that time, more lawmakers also began keeping their families in their home states, coming to Washington only for weekday business and ending an era of bipartisan mingling over dinner parties and children鈥檚 soccer games.
鈥淕ingrich gets a fair amount of the credit or the blame for what politics has become today,鈥� says Professor Bullock.听
Parallel to that, voters have increasingly 鈥渟orted鈥� themselves into partisan camps that are both ideologically and geographically distinct, creating an urban-rural divide.听
鈥淲e talk about the online echo chambers and ideological bubbles in which folks exist,鈥� says Professor Voss, who describes himself as a radical centrist. But, he adds, if more voters lived among people who were different from them politically, 鈥渋t wouldn鈥檛 have the power that it does.鈥澨�
At the local level, some officials point out they can鈥檛 afford to let polarization stand in the way of fixing potholes or repairing the sewer system.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know if it came out from Washington or we sent it back toward Washington,鈥� says Donnie Tuck, the independent mayor of Hampton, Virginia. But wherever it started, it needs to be stopped at every level, from the president on down, adds Mayor Tuck, who makes a point of听attending social gatherings and meetings with people who don鈥檛 agree with him. 鈥淲e need leadership that will try to bring us together.鈥�
Democratic Mayor Steve Williams of Huntington, West Virginia, who just won his third term with 62% of the vote in a deep-red county, points out that the oath of office taken by politicians is not to uphold a political party but the Constitution of the United States.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 what this nation needs right now 鈥� put the nation first,鈥� says Mayor Williams, whose city has become a national model for dealing with the opioid crisis, for which he credits his own community鈥檚 willingness to work together as well as support and funding from the Obama and Trump administrations.
鈥淭here are some people in Washington who want division, because as they push division on both the right and the left, more [campaign] dollars come rolling in,鈥� he says. 鈥淟et鈥檚 ... just start getting something done.鈥�
In a speech Thursday, Mr. Biden reprised themes of unity he鈥檚 often emphasized on the campaign trail.听
鈥淥nce this election is finalized and behind us, it will be time for us to do what we鈥檝e always done as Americans: to put the harsh rhetoric of the campaign behind us,鈥� he said, calling for the nation to unite, heal, and come together. 鈥淚 am campaigning as a Democrat. But I will govern as an American president. The presidency itself is not a partisan institution. It is the one office in this nation that represents everyone. ... I will work as hard for those who didn鈥檛 vote for me as I will for those who did vote for me.鈥�听
He may have his work cut out for him, with many conservatives expressing doubt in the run-up to the election about whether he could or would hold off the increasingly energized left wing of his party, whose progressive agenda and stark discourse alarmed moderates.
Meanwhile, all eyes are on Pennsylvania as it tallies up the remaining ballots, cast听by voters like Kim Davis.
She waited an hour and 15 minutes to vote in Glen Rock, but said earlier this week as she exited the polling place that听she would have waited four hours if that鈥檚 what it took to exercise her right to vote. As in 2016, she cast her ballot for Mr. Trump, whom she described as the 鈥渓esser of the evils.鈥�
Wearing nursing scrubs and walking back to her Mini Cooper, Ms. Davis expressed a desire for greater moderation on both sides.
鈥淲e forget that our end goal is serving the country, not serving a political party,鈥� she said.
Staff writer Story Hinckley contributed reporting from Pennsylvania.
