[ad_1]
WASHINGTON – For Democrats celebrating President-elect Joe Biden’s projected victory, the joys of defeating President Donald Trump will likely be short-lived as the party faces daunting challenges.
The Democratic Party has big plans – from defeating the coronavirus and expanding access to healthcare to tackling climate change to expanding voting rights and overhauling the criminal justice system.
There will be tensions between the progressives who want to pursue an aggressive agenda and the moderates who want to strike a note of unity and seek cooperation with Republicans after a murderous election.
As he begins to roll out his transition plans, Biden can expect to quickly feel the warmth from his party’s left wing.
“There will be no honeymoon because there was no wedding,” said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible. “It’s a partnership. It’s a partnership to save democracy. No one is under any illusions that the reforms we want to see will happen automatically.”
“The reason there can’t be a honeymoon period is that we don’t have a lot of time,” he added. “We have to hit the ground running.”
Biden campaigned to bring the country together and pursue an ambitious progressive agenda.
He will have to face major obstacles:
- Unless Democrats relinquish two stellar seats in Georgia, Republicans will control the Senate and have a veto over its legislative program, Cabinet choices, and judicial candidates;
- Democrats have a small minority in the House who will limit their trail;
- The new conservative 6-3 Supreme Court could restrict executive actions that Biden could pursue without Congress.
Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.V., the most moderate Democrat in the house, called on his colleagues to put partisanship aside and “seek bipartisan solutions” to America’s problems.
“Now more than ever,” he said, “it is time for us to come together to end toxic political tribalism and invest in the values and principles that make our nation the greatest country in the world. planet”.
But the Liberals will insist on the contrary.
“I know Joe Biden likes to think of himself as a negotiator, but it’s not the 1970s anymore,” said Waleed Shahid of the activist group Justice Democrats, which is allied with progressive lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. , Be p. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y. “Any sort of toxic deal with Mitch McConnell will likely demobilize the Democratic electorate.”
Shahid said progressives would push Biden to use his executive authority to advance “important parts of his agenda, especially the climate crisis.”
Georgia Republican Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue prepare for the second round on Jan.5 against Democratic opponents Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively. Unless both GOP incumbents are defeated, the chamber will be led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
If so, Biden will be the first president since 1989 to take office without full control of Congress.
“These are uncharted waters for two polarized parties of the modern era,” Shahid said.
Either way, the party left intends to keep the heat going.
“We’re going to introduce Medicare For All – trust me, we are,” Sanders said a conversation with the so-called Squad a few days before the election. “Green New Deal – we are not giving up on this.”
Ocasio-Cortez, on the same call, praised Sanders for challenging the Democratic Party apparatus to be bolder and said their collective efforts “will prevent the Democratic Party from drifting to the right.”
Senior Democratic officials have said they are waiting to see whether McConnell adopts a defiant or conciliatory posture in the wake of Biden’s victory.
“Senate Democrats will be on two tracks,” a Democratic aide said. “First, to accomplish the policy changes that we think the nation needs, we’re going to have to work hard to win Georgia. Second, we need to get a feel for McConnell’s posture. Does McConnell want to deal or back off in the Obama era of obstruction? “
[ad_2]
Source link