Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders Highlight the Democratic Party's Family Division: NPR

Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are in everyone's mind.

At his rally in Philadelphia on Saturday, Biden escaped the script – twice – to mock the protester with a whistle.

"It must be Bernie or someone else," Biden said, raising his eyebrows and laughing.

A few minutes later, while Biden was talking about unity and government in a deeper hiss, he was using the whistler as a typing line.

"You know, there is serious work to be done," said Biden, "but it's not done by a president who wakes up in the middle of the night and leads the war on Twitter or at the same time. like the whistle, I wonder what campaign it is? "

In these two spontaneous remarks, Biden cast a brutal look at his view of the difference between him and Sanders in government – an adult looking for a consensus or a perverse guy to whistle.

Sanders responded the next day to NBC on Meet the Press, pointing out that beating President Trump was "No. 1", but that "that was not enough".

"I understand that our campaign is unique in that we will try to win the Democratic primaries, that we will try to beat Trump, but you know what else we will try to do? We" We will try to to transform the United States of America (…). Our campaign has a different purpose. It is to transform this country and we take care of the entire establishment when we do it. "

And what's better than the former vice president of an administration that many progressives lament as being too progressive, too naive and too confused to work with Republicans?

"There is a dynamic tension between wanting to be won and being inspired," said Karen Finney, a top-level Democratic strategist who worked for Hillary Clinton's campaign during Stacey Abrams' Georgia recruitment campaign. 2018 and now working for Higher Heights. and organization working to elect black women.

Finney, however, notes that Biden has an appeal for the Democrats because it represents somehow a soothing balm, an antidote to almost three years of a hard departure from normalcy, in the eyes of Democrats, many independent and some Republicans.

"Part of the desire to win is that there is a mood in the country for, I do not like to say that we are returning to normal, but to establish a new normal that gives the certainty that the person in charge knows what he's doing or what he's doing, "Finney said. "And there is something about Biden, in part because he has experience on the big stage with Obama reminding you of that."

It is probably for this reason that Biden – so far in this very early phase of primary school – is comfortably ahead of the polls of Democratic voters.

"The disadvantage, if you want to call it that, for Biden, is that voters want a new party face, a younger party face," said Adam Hodge, a Democratic consultant, who was both President of the Obama administration and Democrat. Spokesperson for the committee. "But all of this is secondary to who is the best person to beat Donald Trump in November, and who can form a big government coalition to get things done." A majority of the Democratic Party wants a president not only to win, but also get things done. "

Biden emphasized the need to govern and create consensus.

"Well, I'm going to say something outrageous: I know how to make the government work," Biden said, adding, "I've already helped the government work, and I can get it working again. me, our principles should never be compromised but the compromise itself is not a big word Consensus is not a weakness, it is a necessity. how this government was designed to work. "

This is not popular among progressives who want a bold change, and they do not trust Biden to maintain the line of conduct on these principles.

"I will be damned if the same politicians who refused to act then [in recent decades] We will try to come back today and say that we need to find an approach in the middle of the road to save our lives, "said progressive star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York after hearing that Biden could the "road" of climate change.

The split is reduced to unity versus anger, restoration to the revolution.

"It's a political revolution" we need, said Larry Cohen, director of Our Revolution, an outside group supporting Sanders who was born out of his 2016 campaign. "Restoration in this country – what time are we going to Jim Crow's "State Militia" We're moving forward, no restoration To build a democracy here, it must be inclusive – significantly. "

There are warning signs for Biden and Sanders. The takeover of the House by Democrats was fueled in 2018 by women. A Pew poll on Thursday revealed that women, especially those under 50, were much less enthusiastic about voting for a white man than for a woman.

And there are about two dozen Democrat candidates, including famous women like Sens. California's Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, who will host this Memorial Day weekend in New Hampshire Iowa.

Until now, Biden and Sanders have stood out, but the campaign is about to enter an important phase: the debate season begins next month. For many voters, this will be the first presentation of some of these candidates – and it may be that one bursts.

"That's why the debates are going to be so important," said Finney, "because, for the moment, it's hard to get an idea of ​​their strength against the voters because they are 23 in number. … Seeing how they engage will give us a lot more information about the strength of these candidates. "

In the end, however, despite the very real and sharp divisions, party strategists believe that the party will meet because of Trump.

"One of the most galvanizing forces of American politics in recent history is the Trump presidency," Hodge said. "And I think the Democrats, no matter who the nominee is, will absolutely unite behind the one we name."

For example, Cohen said about Biden: "If he is the proposed candidate," his group "will enthusiastically support him.In the end, the elections are binary.It's like a switch, I want the light on, there's a huge difference between Vice President Biden and Donald Trump. "

That said, he added, "The time has come to talk about the kind of country we can be and what we can do – and let's look higher."