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Bennett's avatar

It's worth noting that the Biden presidency is also getting savvier with the mainstream press' "return-to-bad-faith" form. The distinction Biden drew--and I'm sure his team planned that bit of linguistic jiu-jitsu ahead of time--between "unity" and "bipartisanship" artfully illustrated how one can reach right past both Republican-lite enablers in the press (looking at you, Michael Shear) and Republicans reps to speak directly to voters--including non-Biden independents and Republicans seeking COVID and unemployment relief. As long as the Biden team can keep up this barrage of "re-frames," it should perform well, whether it's recasting Republicans as sore losers and weak-kneed whiners (see under Josh Hawley) or Democrats as the true law-and-order party (see under vigorous prosecution of seditionists) and the true tough-on-defense party (see under Biden phone call to Putin [but please, no more forever wars!]).

The next battle that will need to be fought--and it will be a tough one--is to keep corporate donors at proper arm's length and delivering real relief and muscle to American workers. Fortunately, the Biden administration appears to be moving in that direction. Firing Robb from the NLRB, signing the executive order to strengthen Buy American provisions (and not buy American paint jobs on Chinese products), and other pro-worker moves could play exceedingly well in redder parts of the midwest and reinforce the midwestern blue wall. No paying lip service to one of the most powerful GOTV constituencies in order to appease Wall Street tycoons, obeisance to whom has come to pay fewer and fewer dividends. I'll even go out on a limb and suggest that some degree of economic populism is still a baseline requirement and expectation from a Democratic president and that taking economic policy advice from the Larry Summers of this world is just more bad public policy and kowtowing to the financier class.

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Jim Prevatt's avatar

What you're writing here seems true to me because it is in fact true. Thanks John.

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