Obama had a movement; Biden cannot count on a movement
Joe Biden’s decades-long advertising of “Average Joe” has not successfully raised a coalition who likes him as opposed to being a compromise option.
Admittedly, it is hard to raise this argument without coming off as bitter but consider the following.
With the unmissable exceptions of a father and son of the House of Bush, America’s presidents over the last four decades have raised movements as a political tool.
In Reaganism, a coalition of white conservative Christians and free-market enthusiasts were married. Clintonite politics was refreshing for the free-market enthusiasts and others who had a soft spot for racial minorities.
Then there was Barack Obama, a charming orator from Illinois who swooned millions with a near-transcendental vision of change. Trumpism gathered just about enough people who believe Obama failed or simply dislike America’s first black president.
The point about these presidencies is that they were watershed moments in a very proactive sense.
The usefulness of movements for a president cannot be understated. They are cudgels against opponents and their sheer existence embodies moral authority for a president.
Biden’s strongest feelings are that he could get what he wants if he talks to Republicans. That belief is sure to be tested if he becomes president and the Democrats do not win the Senate in particular.
Obama had a movement and even he struggled to use it when dealing with Republicans.
But all of this is not to downplay Biden’s capacity to raise a base that will go all out for him. George W. Bush did just fine with neoconservatives and a few Tea Partiers.
