Biden’s deficiencies and strengths both on display

Charles Dickens might have written about the first week of November for President Biden and the Democrats: “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

First, Biden’s party was handed a resounding defeat in the off-year elections. Then, three days later, the House of Representatives passed President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill and sent it to the president to sign — fulfilling one of his major 2020 campaign commitments.

The morning after the House vote, the president said, “They want us to deliver. Last night we proved we can. On one big item, we delivered.” 

When it comes to resolving conflicts between nations, there are two kinds of skills involved — combat and diplomacy. The same thing is true for domestic political conflicts. Donald Trump is a master of political combat. His party glorifies him as a warrior who refuses to accept defeat. Joe Biden is not a warrior. He is a skilled diplomat. You can see both Biden’s strengths and his deficiencies in this month’s two big events.

The most closely watched race of 2021 was for governor of Virginia. But you can’t say that Democrat Terry McAuliffe’s defeat was just because he ran a flawed campaign (like his disastrous comment during a debate, “I don’t think parents should be telling schools what they should teach”). Democrats lost every statewide office in Virginia, as well as their majority in the state legislature. They also nearly lost the race for governor of New Jersey, which was expected to be a big Democratic victory.

Republicans made gains all over the country including Long Island, the New York City Council and Seattle. A little-known Republican candidate even defeated the president of the New Jersey state Senate. “It didn’t happen because of me,” the winning candidate said. “I’m nobody. I’m absolutely nobody.” Despite a total lack of political experience, the Republican “nobody” defeated the second most powerful elected official in the state.

The best explanation was the one given by former President Bill Clinton 20 years earlier, when Democrats had an unexpectedly poor showing in the 2002 midterm election: “Strong and wrong beats weak and right.” All over the country, Biden was seen as a weak president. According to Gallup, among elected presidents since World War II, only Donald Trump had lower public support than Biden at a comparable point in his presidency.

“Biden’s approval is pulling down Democrats everywhere,” a Wisconsin polltaker said. The Democratic governor there saw his own declining ratings and said, “There’s no question national forces are playing a big role.” Even record high turnouts for state elections in Virginia and New Jersey didn’t help Democrats. Angry Republicans appear to have outvoted disheartened Democrats. President Trump was not on the field, but he had shown his troops how to fight. 

To be fair, one reason Biden has been a weak president is that the voters didn’t give him much of an army. Democrats control both the House and Senate by the narrowest of margins. Biden may have aimed to be another Franklin D. Roosevelt or Lyndon Johnson, but as Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) observed, “We don’t have the numbers that FDR had or that Lyndon Baines Johnson had in order to get some major, major legislation done. We don’t have those.”

The election results may have turned things around for the president. Biden put pressure on House Democrats to quit squabbling and pass what he called the “long overdue” infrastructure bill. In an old-fashioned display of political skill, the president offered a deal whereby moderate Democrats would agree to support the “Build Back Better” social policy bill so long as the Congressional Budget Office found the impact on the national deficit will be as projected by the White House.

Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also enlisted the support of the Congressional Black Caucus to persuade progressive Democrats to vote for the infrastructure bill, provided moderates supported a procedural motion to advance the Build Back Better bill.

Black Democrats had been key to Biden’s winning the 2020 Democratic nomination, and their loyalty paid off. Biden knew that progressive Democrats would be reluctant to block anything the Black Caucus wants. Biden won through traditional political wheeling and dealing that showcased the president’s personal skill and his deep political experience.

When he was president, Trump had called for a new infrastructure bill — Trump was a builder, after all. “They announced ‘infrastructure week’ — and they announced it and announced it and announced it and announced it every week for four years and didn’t do a damn thing,” Biden said in May. “They didn’t get the job done.”

When asked before the House vote what made him so confident that he could get the job done, Biden answered, “Me.”

And he was right.

Trump may be better at commanding a political army, but Biden has the crucial skill and experience to broker a deal when one is needed. To get things done in politics, sometimes you need a warrior and sometimes you need a diplomat.

Bill Schneider is an emeritus professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University and author of “Standoff: How America Became Ungovernable” (Simon & Schuster).