Why Biden’s persistent optimism may be warranted

Why Biden’s persistent optimism may be warranted

Washington Post

Opinion by 

Jennifer Rubin

Columnist

June 18, 2021 at 1:00 a.m. GMT+9

President Biden speaks at a news conference in Geneva on Wednesday. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

Image without a caption

White House reporters cannot stop asking press secretary Jen Psaki why President Biden has not already concluded deals on giant domestic items. Hasn’t he failed? Wasn’t he wrong about bipartisanship? Didn’t he hear the latest threat from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell? They heckle Psaki about why Russia has not already changed its conduct in response to sanctions.

Chalk some of that up to media’s desire to be aggressive with a Democratic president and to the deleterious impact social media has had on mainstream reporters’ attention spans and patience. Add in a lack of comprehension about the glacial pace of Congress, and it’s clear why so many in the traditional media are prone to premature declarations of defeat.

But is all this gloom and emphatic predictions of failure warranted? The media and Biden’s Democratic critics anxious he will “give away” too much in negotiations with Republicans (as if he had much leverage with a 50-50 Senate) might take a deep breath. If they did, they might spot some sunlight peeking through the fog of Republican obstruction, distraction and disinformation.

Story continues below advertisement

Bipartisan infrastructure legislation seemed to be on death’s door when Biden rejected the meager offering from Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) before he left for Europe. But it turned out Capito was either not a skilled negotiator or did not understand where some of her fellow Republicans stood. Biden pivoted to discussions with other Republicans. They had more to offer.

The Post reports:

The initial framework, written by the likes of Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and seven other senators, falls far short of the sweeping infrastructure proposal that Biden has pitched, yet aims to try to satisfy the president’s hunger for bipartisanship.

But their efforts received a big boost Wednesday, when 11 more senators joined the original 10 and said they supported the still-unreleased blueprint of a deal. The group now includes 11 Republicans, nine Democrats and one independent who caucuses with the Democrats. All told, they account for a fifth of the entire chamber.

They are a long way from a deal. It may yet fail. But bipartisan infrastructure negotiation is not dead, as mainstream media coverage would have you believe.

There are even signs of some path forward on voting reform. When Biden left for Europe, Sen. Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) was a flat no on H.R. 1. The key was to get Manchin to spell out what he would support. Sure enough, Manchin came forward with a surprisingly robust list of reforms, The Post reports, including “provisions mandating at least two weeks of early voting and measures meant to eliminate partisan gerrymandering of congressional districts.” While he also supports voter IDs (which are required in almost every state), the sticking point on that issue has always been what sort of ID is required, with Republicans trying to eliminate readily available documents such as utility bills and student IDs.

Story continues below advertisement

Informed voting rights gurus urged Democrats to grab the opportunity. Appearing on CNN, the country’s most important voting rights advocate, Stacey Abrams, declared she “absolutely” could support Manchin’s compromise. “What Senator Manchin is putting forward are some basic building blocks that we need to ensure that democracy is accessible no matter your geography,” she said.

Once again, there is a long, long way to go to get all 50 Democrats, let alone 10 more Republicans, on board. And Manchin has not yet said he would maneuver around the filibuster if 10 Republicans did not emerge. Still, there is daylight, if only a little.

Yogi Berra’s admonition that “it ain’t over til it’s over” is as true about politics as it is about baseball. The media would do well to dial back on certitude and instead convey an accurate sense of the twists and turns that are inevitable in any legislative battle. Sometimes, we just have to wait to find out how it all turns out.

Story continues below advertisement

Read more: