Handshake with political opponents: Joe Biden (right) and Mitch McConnell.Bild: keystone
Analyse
The US President has achieved a great deal. For this very reason, he should not seek a second term.
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The Brent Spence Bridge connects the two states of Kentucky and Ohio. It’s an important part of America’s infrastructure, and it’s also been a problem child for decades. Not only can it no longer handle the masses of cars and trucks that cross it every day, it is also so dilapidated that it poses a real threat to life and limb.
The problem has been known for years. President Barack Obama wanted to renovate the bridge, as did Donald Trump. Both have failed. Not so Joe Biden: He attended the ceremony to mark the start of construction of a new bridge a few days ago. He was joined by Mitch McConnell, Republican Senate Minority Leader, and Mike DeWine, Republican Governor of Ohio.
The ailing Brent Spence BridgeBild: keystone
The ceremony at the bridge showed Biden in top form. Despite the bitter dispute between the two American parties, he has finally managed to realize an overdue and necessary project. The bridge is symbolic of a whole series of Biden’s bipartisan successes: He pushed Covid aid through Congress, as well as a mini Green New deal and a law that massively supports American chip production. He even enforced stricter gun laws, which previously seemed impossible.
Biden also scored points in foreign policy. The troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, while chaotic, was long overdue. All those who saw this as a sign of US weakness were bitterly disappointed, especially Vladimir Putin. Biden has managed to orchestrate a united Western front against Russia’s brutal incursion into Ukraine. He reunited NATO, which had been trampled underfoot by Donald Trump, and added two new members, Sweden and Finland. In Asia he has succeeded in forging Japan and South Korea into defense partners against China and improving relations with India.
The lunatics have taken over the Republicans
After the midterm elections, which were successful for the Democrats, Biden can now reap the rewards. He will inaugurate further significant infrastructure projects. The American middle class will be happy that, thanks to Biden, the inflated drug prices, especially for insulin, are finally falling; and with a bit of luck even the economy will land softly.
The Republicans, on the other hand, are in the worst crisis in a long time. The election as Speaker of the House of Representatives has not only shown that the inmates of the insane asylum have taken power at the Grand Old Party (GOP). She has also made it abundantly clear that the party is leaderless. Even Donald Trump hasn’t managed to get the rebels to see reason, his hardcore fans are increasingly treating him like an aging patriarch who is slightly gaga, whom they still love but no longer take him seriously.
Trump’s influence is melting like a snowball in hell, and the fact that he has countless criminal cases against him and will likely be indicted doesn’t really strengthen his power. However, an alternative to Trump is far and wide not in sight.
Almost a hundred years ago, comedian Will Rogers coined the legendary saying: “I am not a member of an organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” This saying hit the nail on the head for a long time. The Democrats were notorious for intra-party strife and chaos. But currently the opposite is true: they stood united behind their new leader Hakeem Jeffries, who succeeded Nancy Pelosi.
A political star is born: Hakeem Jeffries, the new leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives.Bild: keystone
An impressive track record, a fractious opposition: what is to keep Joe Biden from running for a second term? Common sense. As is well known, the US President is no longer the youngest. In addition, a president’s second term is usually more difficult than the first. The allure of the new is gone. Big shots are no longer possible because the opposition controls one or even both chambers of Congress.
In addition, nobody wants the duel between Biden and Trump to be repeated. “It would be a fight that would plunge the entire nation into a depression,” Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal. “There is a huge hunger to finally close this chapter.”
Even if Trump were to become the GOP’s presidential nominee, which is becoming increasingly unlikely, Biden would be doing himself a disservice by running for a second term. The Democrats have enough candidates who can stand up to any Republican challenger, like the aforementioned Jeffries, or the still-influential Senator Amy Klobuchar, or Ro Khanna, a brilliant representative from Silicon Valley, or Gretchen Whitmer, the governor Michigan, or…
His influence is waning: Donald Trump.Bild: keystone
Another legendary saying in Washington is. When it comes down to it, “the Democrats fall in love and the Republicans close ranks.” (Unfortunately, the saying only works in English: “Democrats fall in love, and republicans fall in line.”) That’s no longer true either. The Democrats have finally recognized the value of pragmatic politics and have realized that if they act as one, they can defeat the Republicans.
Joe Biden should use this insight and make room for a younger one at the peak of his political career – and bask in the fact that he will go down in history as a great US President.
Nothing shows the Biden/Trump difference quite like their terrorist rhetoric
Video: watson