Well, let’s once again put things on hold. Look, Joe Biden still has the upper hand, but that could come crashing down on December 3. There will be a hearing in Nevada, where the Trump campaign can present its evidence regarding voter fraud in the 2020 election. It could be a gamechanger. Until then, however, the Biden camp is full steam ahead with its transition operations. Biden’s picks are not radical. That doesn’t mean they’re good either. For a far-left soldier, this is greatly disappointing. Janet Yellen being tapped as Treasury Secretary may have been well-received by the markets, which closed over 30,000 for the first time this week, but this isn’t the change you wanted.
And that’s the brutal truth when it comes to the 2020 election. Biden didn’t generate a blue wave. Down ticket, the Democratic Party was beaten bloody. They lost House seats. They didn’t perform how they wanted in the Senate which could still end up being controlled by the GOP pending the results of the critical Georgia runoffs. And the Democrats’ state legislature game plan totally blew up in their faces, not a single target chamber was flipped. The GOP controls the lion's share of the congressional redistricting for another decade. All of this points to a couple of things. One is that Trump is not toxic to the GOP brand. In fact, he buoyed some people over the top in these lesser-known races, especially at the state level. Second, IF Biden is the winner after all legal avenues have been exhausted by the Trump team, then he’s on the verge of being rendered ineffective. You have a Democratic House Majority that’s been whittled down to a nub; there’s not much wiggle room for error. And for sure, defunding the police nonsense will only make that slim majority even more vulnerable come 2022. And if things go well in Georgia, a Republican Senate pretty much kills any meaningful push Biden wants to undertake on taxes, health care, gun control, and global warming. By 2022, we could see the GOP expand their standings in the Senate. At the very least, they’re in good shape to keep the majority and the House will be in play if Democrats continue to entertain the illiberal action items of its far-left contingent. This could possibly be the state of politics for four years.
So, yes, if all else fails, progressives don’t have to deal with President Trump, but their agenda is now further stuck in the mud. The pause button is not available on the far left. It’s not even an option. And Biden’s picks thus far are boring, moderate-ish, and from the former Obama-Biden administration.
Playbook.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
THE BIGGEST SHIFT in Washington in January won’t only be that Democrats are taking the White House. It will be that the BIDEN administration will be -- as @BrendanBuck pointed out -- “delightfully boring.”@harrispolitico calls it “Joe Biden’s Team of Careerists.” pic.twitter.com/kFcC8EpG1u
THIS IS AN ADMIN filled with people who have deep experience in government and in the agencies they will be running. THE POST puts it this way: “By design, they seem meant to project a dutiful competence, as Biden creates a government overseen by those who have run it before.”
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
THEY BELIEVE IN A LINEAR , plodding, purposeful and standard policy process. Impulsive policymaking and widespread leaks from competing factions in the administration are probably over.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
EXPECT INTERVIEWS with JOE BIDEN to be a big deal -- meaning, they won’t happen that often, which gives them an extra oomph. We’ll complain, and they won’t care. (His interview with @LesterHoltNBC HOLT on NBC will air tonight.)
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
We can’t imagine he’ll pop into the briefing room with regularity, or tweet his emotions, thoughts or decision-making process. SAPs -- statements of administration policy -- will, again, be a big deal, because it will be how you know what the admin is thinking on legislation
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
You probably won't get conflicting signals from the White House about whether the president will sign a bill. If he works on it, and is a party to the agreement, he probably won't veto it at the last minute.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
THIS ADMINISTRATION will be of the Georgetown dinner variety. A return to briefing books and policymaking by political professionals who aren’t likely to try to burn down the White House over petty disagreements and jockeying to get in the good graces of the president.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
IT IS UNLIKELY TO BE an administration that has aides rushing to get on TV to praise the president. In fact, you probably will rarely see many of these Cabinet officials.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
IN OTHER WORDS, if the TRUMP White House was like downing a vat of Tabasco sauce over the past four years, the BIDEN White House will be like sipping unflavored almond milk.
— Jake Sherman (@JakeSherman) November 24, 2020
Yes, the first round of picks have not met progressive backlash, but there’s one keyword missing here: “yet.”
If you’re a hard-core progressive, you’re bound to be disappointed and it’s coming. There will be some corporate pick or someone who will garner outrage from these unspooled folks. All of this behind a backdrop about the national political scene since the 2020 electorate showed that the ground isn’t fertile for Democrats to get the legislative majorities they want. Change is needed, but that debate between establishmentarians and progressives will be messy. So, there’s another wrench that will be hurled into the works. Like the Dallas Cowboys, give it time, the leftist rage machine will get cranking again.
I mean, "unflavored almond milk" isn't exciting, right? Unless progressives are fine downing that commie trash because they know something, is in the works that will bring about the changes they want?
For the rest of us, the swamp is back.