An even bigger break for Democrats came from their opponents. Republicans picked one Trump-loving, MAGA-embracing, election-denying extremist/political neophyte after another — from Kari Lake, Doug Mastriano and Blake Masters to Mehmet Oz, Don Bolduc and Herschel Walker — with predictable results. Nor is this problem going away for the Republicans, as demonstrated by Kevin McCarthy’s so-far ineffectual efforts to persuade the most extreme House Republicans to back his bid for speaker. Indeed, as House Republicans likely pursue investigations of Biden’s son Hunter, hold the debt limit hostage to demanding cuts to popular social insurance programs, such as Social Security or Medicare, or open impeachment proceedings of White House officials (including possibly Biden himself), the president can spend the next two years providing a stark, adult contrast.
It’s the latter that is likely Biden’s strongest political asset. Outside the conservative fever swamp, Biden is not a polarizing figure. Over the past two years, he has followed through repeatedly on his pledge to work across the aisle with Republicans. First, there was last year’s infrastructure bill. This year brought even more bipartisan achievements on gun control, same-sex marriage, veterans health care, investments in the U.S. semiconductor industry and military aid to Ukraine.
Yet, at the same time, Biden has kept his liberal base content. The decision this August to forgive tens of thousands of dollars in student debt was a priority of the party’s liberal wing. He has also aggressively moved to stock federal courts with judges, including the historic appointment of the Supreme Court’s first Black female justice (another 2020 campaign promise). And earlier this fall, he issued a blanket pardon for thousands of people prosecuted for possessing marijuana.
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