Opinion
The Decency Agenda
Joe Biden promised to be a president for all
Americans. Here’s a way to start.
By The Editorial Board
The editorial board is a group of opinion journalists
whose views are informed by expertise, research, debate and certain
longstanding values. It is separate from the newsroom.
Dec. 5,
2020
Joe Biden
won the presidency because, at a moment when so many Americans were exhausted
by the chaos and nastiness of the Trump era, he promised stability, decency and
healing. At the heart of his candidacy was the vow to be “a president for all
Americans” as he labored “to restore the soul of the nation.”
“The
presidency itself is not a partisan institution,” Mr. Biden stressed the day
after the election. “It’s the one office in this nation that represents
everyone, and it demands a duty of care for all Americans. That is precisely
what I will do.”
This is a
soothing bit of uplift. But in a nation so starkly polarized, what does it even
mean? While a record 81 million people voted for Mr. Biden, some 74 million
voted to give President Trump four more years in office. Forget shared values:
Americans cannot agree on a shared reality. Too many of us live in echo
chambers, consuming information tailored to support our existing biases.
Partisan warfare impels people to deny the legitimacy, even the humanity, of
those with different viewpoints. What hope does any president have of bridging
this gulf?
Mr. Biden
might consider a three-pronged approach. Call it the Decency Agenda. The first
element is turning down the heat of the culture wars as they intersect with
politics. Too often, proxy fights create more outrage than progress.
The second
part involves finding shared ground on policy that can push the country
forward, even as it works to address its entrenched inequities and divisions.
Could it at last be time for a serious “infrastructure week”?
The third
element involves accountability. Not a truth commission mounted out of spite,
or justice sought in the spirit of vengeance. But some way to get answers about
what happened during the Trump administration, coupled with an attempt to
restore some guardrails that proved insufficient to restrain Mr. Trump’s worst
impulses.
In the
coming weeks, we’ll have more to say about parts two and three of such an
agenda.
It’s too
simplistic to say that the way to tamp down America’s raging culture wars is
for the incoming president to do the precise opposite of the departing one.
But, in key respects, that prescription isn’t far-off. This is not so much
about policy, although putting together an agenda with broad appeal and
bipartisan support will be a big part of Mr. Biden’s challenge. This is about
something more elemental — the president-elect’s conception of leadership.
Mr. Trump
has approached the presidency, as he does everything, as a zero-sum
proposition: To win, someone else must lose. Grounded in the politics of
division, Trumpism is about attitude. The more antagonistic, the better. The
president’s re-election campaign wanted to “make liberals cry again.”
This kind
of leadership poisons the body politic, a little more each day. Presidents are
role models. Their words and comportment influence their supporters and, more
generally, set the tone for the national discourse. Mr. Trump has not merely
normalized cruelty and boorishness; he has given it the imprimatur of the Oval
Office.
One of Mr.
Biden’s most basic jobs will be to model a different leadership — to reclaim
what it means to be presidential in a way that restores dignity and humanity to
the office. Some of what this requires is straightforward: Don’t demean
political opponents or fellow world leaders. Don’t insult members of your own
administration. Don’t accuse people who merely disagree with you of treason.
Don’t have a Twitter tantrum every time your feelings get bruised. Or, maybe,
stay off Twitter altogether.
More
specifically, Mr. Biden will need to restore and reinforce some guardrails and
norms that Mr. Trump tore down, in the recognition that not even presidents are
above the law. He has already made his tax returns public, a welcome step back
toward accountability. Going forward, he will need to make clear that key
institutions — the Department of Justice, the intelligence community and the
military, for starters — will be free from partisan meddling. His
administration’s inspectors general must be treated as guardians, not
turncoats, and they may need to be granted additional protections. He will need
to acknowledge that oversight of the executive branch is a legitimate function
of Congress, not something to be dismissed out of hand.
Speaking to
the concerns of Mr. Trump’s supporters, without condemnation or condescension,
will be crucial to Mr. Biden’s unification efforts. It helps that the new
president has an unpolished, regular-guy appeal and a knack for connecting on a
personal level that keeps him from seeming like a snooty elitist. His Catholic
faith is important to him, which will resonate in many enclaves. In pursuing
his governing agenda, disagreements will arise over deeply held beliefs, and
the arguments are bound to get heated. But, unlike his predecessor, Mr. Biden
knows the difference between opponents and enemies.
Mr. Trump
has stoked cultural conflict — by, for instance, declaring war on N.F.L.
players who kneel during the national anthem. Mr. Biden presumably will find
better uses of his time and energy. Not every culture-war skirmish merits
presidential involvement, and many would be better managed without it. QAnon
may be a disturbing sign of the times, but it does not yet rise to the level of
a presidential talking point. Neither do the “thin blue line” flags that are a
sign of police solidarity and, depending on whom you ask, white supremacy.
With the
coronavirus holding center stage, even core culture-war issues — abortion,
L.G.B.T.Q. rights, religious freedom, assault weapons — may wind up relegated
to the political background. There will be movement on all of these issues
outside of Mr. Biden’s control, either in Congress or the courts. But he need
not celebrate or mourn each of these developments as an existential victory or
defeat. Not because they aren’t important, but precisely because they incite
such passion and fury. All of these questions will be contested long after Mr.
Biden’s term in office is over. These long-simmering challenges will still be
there, waiting, when the acute trauma of the pandemic has passed and the nation
begins its recovery.
Mr. Biden
has the temperament and the tools to moderate rather than maximize conflict.
When the death of George Floyd this spring sparked nationwide protests over
racial injustice and police brutality, forcing those issues to the forefront of
the presidential race, Mr. Trump sought to inflame tensions. Who can forget his
Twitter invocation of the civil rights-era phrase, “When the looting starts,
the shooting starts”?
Mr. Biden
took a different approach. He acknowledged America’s entrenched racism and
stressed his support for police reform, even as he rightfully rejected the
edgier calls to “defund the police.” He reached out to the victims of and the
families impacted by police violence, offering comfort and understanding, and
he sympathized with the frustration and anger of the protesters. But he also
condemned the pockets of violent rioting that accompanied some protests. His
goal was not to downplay the problem but to lower the temperature on a crisis
that threatened to consume the nation.
Nowhere has
the bleed of culture wars into politics been deadlier than in what should have
been a wholly apolitical matter: the handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Historians will puzzle over the idea that mask-wearing in service of protecting
all citizens was considered by many to be a mark of oppression. Imagine if
supporters of free trade or the Green New Deal decided to shun wearing
seatbelts, as a political statement.
The pandemic
is a public health emergency requiring precautions and sacrifices. Yet
Americans are also weary of those sacrifices and depressed and frustrated by
having their lives turned upside down. As president, Mr. Biden can express
empathy with such exhaustion, while standing firm on the necessity of ongoing
safety measures. He can continue to model good behavior, like mask-wearing and
social distancing. He can decline to host potential super-spreader events in
the Rose Garden. Other members of his administration can be directed to follow
suit. A national mask mandate might not be feasible at this point, but calling
on government workers to observe basic safety precautions is well within the
president’s authority. If Americans see their leaders working to keep the
public safe, they may be more willing to do their part.
If, as
seems likely, the new president inherits a divided government, some of the more
ambitious items on many of his supporters’ wish lists will have to be set aside
for now. As a candidate, Mr. Biden won plaudits for his listening skills and
for his outreach to former rivals. Once in office, he’ll need to keep the lines
of communication wide open and ensure that his restive base does not feel taken
for granted.
Pretty much
every move Mr. Biden makes will disappoint some constituency. Such is the
nature of the presidency. His persistent challenge will be to deal with all
parties respectfully, bringing people into the conversation and making them
feel heard. Even when his outreach efforts fail, they will send a message about
how he views his job.
“Let’s give
each other a chance,” Mr. Biden pleaded in his Nov. 7 victory speech. “It’s
time to put away the harsh rhetoric. Lower the temperature, see each other
again, listen to each other again. And to make progress, we have to stop
treating our opponents as our enemies. They are not enemies. They are
Americans.”
America’s
divisions predate Mr. Trump, and they will outlast Mr. Biden. But there is
progress to be made. And there is value in the very act of trying.
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