Joe Biden carries a ‘Kick Me’ sign

Sounds incredible, doesn’t it? But it’s worth asking why. For President Donald Trump, being mad had a rational purpose. His supporters loved it, and the future rebels of his own party were so beaten to submit that they cheered him as loudly as the supporters. Trump’s ability to enforce obsequiousness was a significant political asset. Why can’t Joe Biden also create a personality cult?

Two ingredients are missing. One is a disproportionate leadership personality of the kind that the brilliant Biden does not have. The second, more important, is an instinct for sectarian conformity that is not part of the character or tradition of the Democratic Party.

This highlights an important psychological difference between the parties. The conservative mind generally has a natural deference to authority, which makes Republicans more likely to respond positively to the notion of a president making the law and punishing dissidents. The liberal minded generally has a natural skepticism towards authority, and a natural sympathy for the grievances and demands of its own special interest groups, especially when it comes to groups that have historically faced prejudice. . It’s generalizing, of course. But the generalities have enough validity that it’s nearly impossible to imagine a Democratic president bullying his party like Trump bullying Republicans.

Alas, as Biden shows, it’s not that hard to imagine the reverse phenomenon: Democrats bully their president.

During the transition, Biden often looked like someone had put a “kick me” sign on the back of his suit jacket. The transition, which has seen prominent Democrats openly mock Biden’s process and several of his decisions, risks creating a dangerous dynamic for the new president. In the Washington context, Biden’s peril is that he sends the message that there is no penalty for pressuring him publicly, and that’s probably an advantage. In the national context, any president should wish to project a vision of leadership that transcends the parties and constituencies that claim.

In recent days, POLITICO has compiled a list of squashed toes in transition as Biden’s team sought to deal with conflicting demands from interest groups (“Much more chaotic than needed,” an insider said ), and the Washington Post documented liberals, civil rights leaders, and youth activists. The New York Times said that the “factionalism and fierce impatience” that Biden faces highlights his likely challenges in governing. This article included a puff of smoke on the face of Biden of Ocasio-Cortez, who said his movements did not match an inspiring vision: “You have an individual date here, an individual date there. . What is the general message of the big picture of all this Cabinet put together? “

Which give? Doesn’t AOC fear that she will have trouble with the leader of her party, or, at the very least, with her staff who are probably less good-natured? No, she is not. Neither did Sanders or Rep. Jim Clyburn, both of whom coughed and braved reporters for what they saw, respectively, as the cautious ideological slant of Biden’s nominations or the insufficient racial diversity of the former. wave of choice. Many politicians and activists have followed their example.

No need to exaggerate what’s going on here. Democratic presidents are often harassed in this way. In 1992, Bill Clinton glared and shook his finger as he denounced the “bean counters” for playing “quota games and math games”, when they claimed his appointments reflected insufficient jobs for him. women and minorities.

In Biden’s case, he complained privately to some of his fellow Democrats about being harassed by his party. But that doesn’t seem to have stopped him from going with whoever he wanted to the positions that matter most to him, with longtime aides Ron Klain becoming chief of staff and Antony Blinken running for secretary of state.

Arguably, it projects self-confidence, not weakness, to not be hyper-sensitive like Trump does to intramural carp. Biden’s attitude appears to be, What the fuck, not much, it’s just Democrats doing business.

But it could easily get bigger than Biden wants. On the merits, Biden hopes to adopt an agenda on pandemic rescue, climate change, and the dramatic expansion of the government’s role in healthcare. It will do so on the back of a narrow, wobbly majority in the House and either a minority in the Senate or – at best, pending a special election in Georgia – a tie in this chamber that would be broken by vice. -President Kamala Harris. It’s hard to do under all circumstances. It’s even more difficult with a split party party in which some elements will inevitably believe Biden isn’t going far enough, some will fear he’s going too far, and several claimants will perceive their influence to be enhanced by voicing their demands and grievances in public.

Lyndon B. Johnson was so sensitive to leaks and the appearance of control that he sometimes reversed the course of scheduled dates if the news appeared in advance.

There would be no appetite for this kind of discipline imposed in the Democratic Party today. But it seems likely that Biden will have to send the message something like this soon: The way to influence the Democratic Party is to talk to the leader of the Democratic Party. And if you want to be heard, you have to call me – not the New York Times.

For now, the transition is sort of an open-air mess, with boisterous haggling at every booth. It works well for faction leaders and for journalists. Despite the growls, so far he appears to be doing a decent job of creating an administration that largely represents the seriously cranky party that has merged – with ambivalence in several ways – around Biden as the best chance to dethrone Trump.

But as he shifts from a campaign for power to the actual exercise of power, Biden will soon have to show that just because he’s not a bully doesn’t mean he can be bullied. .