What would be your advice to Biden for his Presidency?
For me, I would give the bumper-sticker advice “Be Breathtaking!” As in, blow me away with boldness. To me, this is necessary to counteract the breathtaking nature of Trump’s crap.
I don’t want Biden to get all caught up in what color fabric to use in re-upholstering the deck chairs on the Titanic. I also don’t want him to fall for the calls for bi-partisanship/unity/(suck me peepee) coming from the Right. I want him to make me go, “Whoa, dude! That was awesome!”
Now, we can certainly debate or quibble on what policy actions that would entail specifically (M4A?, UBI?, Student Debt Forgiveness?, try Trump for treason?)
Yep, go big. DELIVER! Then you’ll see the tides turn.
Get this virus under control and then get busy with infrastructure. We need it desperately and it will provide jobs. Get people good jobs they can live on and they’ll go back to disagreeing about movies or something. I hope.
Help the homeless and clean up the streets. Let people “see” things getting better.
Restaff the hollowed-out departments of government as fast as possible. Purge the Trumpists and seditionists (wherever it’s the president’s prerogative to do so). Preach unity, but don’t ever forget that the other side still means you harm.
Work like you’ll def lose your majorities in the next election. When in doubt, lean in toward bold Kamala and do not repeat OBama’s overly conciliatory ways.
Please be daring and forward and audacious! If not now, WHEN?
Joe, fortune favors the bold. Grab it All with both hands… and if you ever need help, our entire Board is at your disposal.
Also, creating a commission to accept Anon complaints about local cops attacking local residents for their politics or jollies ( coordinated with that state of course ) would be greatly appreciated. Sometimes even State Police ( even Desk Sergeants) can be Dirty.
*Daily press conferences about the progress on reuniting those ~600 separated kids with their families (this should be very public)
*Stimulus projects targeted at vulnerable blue House districts and Senate seats (and heavily publicize them)
*Full court press behind the scenes to get DC and PR statehood (need to push Joe Manchin and “moderate” [i.e. non-crazy] Republican Senators)
Do not send American troops to fire a shot in anger anywhere. Immediately sign an executive order making marijuana and psychedelics fully legal, full stop, everywhere. De-carcerate as many nonviolent prison inmates as possible, and fund some sort of safety net for their re-entry into society. And I think he should avoid any new forms of gun control, other than improving the background check system (I don’t want to see any new bans on models of firearms or types of ammunition.)
Edit - I also think the stimulus checks should be an ongoing thing, regardless of the pandemic. Think of it as a tax rebate.
Mine is similar to what Beau of the Fifth Column has said: remember that people voted for you predominantly to vote against Trump, so fixing Trump issues and serving him consequences is NOT a distraction.
But you do also need to take advantage of the people who became disillusioned with the Republican party after the nonsense finally came to a boiling point on January 6, and use the opportunity to reiterate the parts of the Democratic platform that would actually help the working class–regardless of their skin color.
There’s no reason these can’t be the same message, either.
Make progress and always lead by example. Practice what you preach and ALWAYS tell the truth, even if it’s not in your political best interest. People are tired of being lied to by Retrumplicans. People deserve to hear the truth so they can re-learn to trust their leaders. If someone in Government lies, “call them out” and don’t let them off the hook. Trust experts, particularly scientists, and remember they know more about science than you ever will. Your primary job is to earn the trust of the American people. Don’t be distracted by conspiracy theories. Be like Obama and remember you can never be too bold or too progressive. The pendulum will swing back someday, so now is the time to make as much forward progress as you can, by any means you can. And stay off the golf course! There are too many important things that need to be fixed, and your golf game isn’t one of them.
Be bold, when the GOP obstructs just walk over them and bypass them, quit thinking if you water down your legislation enough that they’ll come around. Obama tried this and all it achieved was depressing democratic turnout during the midterms.
Pass laws people can see the benefits from in their daily lives. Show people how you’re fixing the damage Trump did.
If possible make election reform part of a budget reconciliation package.
Make Covid vaccination your no1,2 and 3 priorities. Tens of thousands of lives are at stake. The medical tools are ready, all that is needed is money, organization and energy and a new Federal administration is ideally suited to provide all three in the first 100 days during its honeymoon period. Early signs don’t look promising. Biden says he wants 100 million vaccinations in 100 days. They should aim for two or three times that number and massively invest in the health facilities needed to make that happen. For context NYC vaccinated 5 million people against smallpox in two weeks in 1947.
Yeah, I think Biden knows a lot more about how to do this than I do. (I sure as hell hope so, anyway.)
But I would say that it ought to be possible to get three birds with one stone by really pushing for – and funding – green infrastructure. Show people, on the ground, that there are jobs to be had and money to be made in keeping us alive in the long run – and get them better services while at it.
And hand some infrastructure money out direct to the lowest levels. I bet there isn’t a local highway department in the country that doesn’t have a list of existing roads that need fixing but which they can’t afford to fix; and there are huge numbers of municipalities of all sizes which need upgrades to their water supply and/or sewage disposal systems.
No time for timidity, Joe. Massive adventures everywhere. Hand out huge stimulus checks left and right. Hit China hard. Make the criminal-justice system like Norway’s, healthcare like Canada’s. Don’t tweet before letting someone proofread it first. Forget about Trump and let him fade away. Go all out on everything. All. Out.