The Ruse of Joe Biden’s Technocratic Centrism
The existential conflict between liberals and conservatives
In his first two speeches as the presumptive president-elect, Joe Biden laid out what he thinks government should do.
“The purpose of our politics isn’t total, unrelenting, unending warfare,” he said in the first, short address. The purpose isn’t “to fan the flames of conflict, but to solve problems, to guarantee justice, to give everyone a fair shot, to improve the lives of our people.
“We may be opponents but we’re not enemies,” he added. “We’re Americans.”
And in the second speech, Biden built on these themes, saying, “Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end — here and now. The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another is not due to some mysterious force beyond our control. It’s a decision.”
He went on to emphasize the need for cooperation: “if we can decide not to cooperate, then we can decide to cooperate. And I believe that this is part of the mandate from the American people. They want us to cooperate. That’s the choice I’ll make. And I call on the Congress — Democrats and Republicans alike — to make that choice with me.”
