03/02/2023

Joe Biden is appealing to America’s ‘better angels’ over its ‘darkest impulses’, but is it even possible for the US to dream of ending the country’s bitter polarisation?

They are Americans, he insisted.
But an angry, vengeful figure tweeting outrage and refusing to concede he is out of time and office may further destabilise a country still reeling from the constant dramas of the Trump White House. Rejecting the standard behaviour of a gradual, gracious transition to a new president, Trump so far seems intent on fomenting trouble and resentment perhaps right through to inauguration day on January 20. As he headed to golf, he continued to claim he won the election “BY A LOT”.
Bidens ambition is as much an appeal to the past strengths of Americas democratic traditions as to the promise of the new.
Not that Biden dwelt on Trumps attacks over stealing the election or the countrys nervous tension as he told Trump voters he understood their disappointment but pledged to govern for all Americans whether or not they had voted for him.
The symbolism of Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris, a woman of black and Indian origin and daughter of immigrants, is potent and positive as she told American children they could all dream with ambition no matter their race or gender.
This reinforces Bidens message it is now time to marshall the forces of decency, fairness, hope and science, projecting hope and confidence about Americas future and prosperity with purpose.
Ive always believed we can define America in one word possibilities,he declared. We are always looking ahead.
But Bidens ambition is as much an appeal to the past strengths of Americas democratic traditions as to the promise of the new.
At 77, the new president has spent a lifetime proudly defending the values and the political system the 74-year-old Trump has insisted must be destroyed. Bidens previous attempts to run for the presidency remarkably starting more than three decades ago did not work out. Finally, so late in life, its become his moment.
I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class, he said.
Biden also believes his own style as a centrist willing to compromise is needed more than ever to resolve the toxic conflict that has come to define America. That more predictable personal and political combination will come as a relief to Americas allies as much as to at least half of the US population keen for an end to the vindictiveness of the Trump era.
The President-elect bluntly said the refusal of Republicans and Democrats to co-operate was not a mysterious force but a choice, and called on both parties to now make a different choice with him.
But the polarisation of American society and its politics preceded the Trump presidency and will continue after it backed by tens of millions of his supporters and a party he has done so much to refashion in his image. Most Republicans are in no mood to compromise in the House where they unexpectedly gained seats or in the Senate where they will still likely hold on narrowly to control and the ability to thwart the White House agenda.
Biden is confident his own relationships as a long-term Senator can help overcome gridlock but also suggested his own party will have to compromise as well.
Despite the recriminations roiling the Republicans after a roller coaster election day, however, most senior Republicans have not been willing yet to urge Trump to concede.
Some of the influential conservative media are more forthright. Not only did the Murdoch-owned Fox News enrage Trump by being the first network to declare he had lost Arizona, but an editorial in the New York Post also called on the President to quit the conspiracy-addled talk of a stolen election.
The editorial praised Trump’s legacy but said pushing baseless conspiracies undermined this as well as faith in democracy.
If Trump persists in wild talk to the contrary, hell lead his people into irrelevance and marginalise his own voice, it thundered. Trump won’t agree.
After his major victory speech, Biden will attempt to drown out Trump’s noise by getting to the business of government, including a transition taskforce to advise on an action blueprint for COVID-19.
Delivering on this Presidential promise and almost everything else will take so much more to go right.