The popular narrative of Biden's improbable radicalism has had one basic feature going back right to early summer 2020 when it first came into vogue: a kind of "only Nixon could go to China" schtick that suggests his conservatism will somehow make him transformative president.
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The paradox is what makes it a compelling story, but the truth was always far likelier to be the less acrobatic and more banal one: Biden's history and record being what actually offer us the best clues about how he actually wants and seeks to govern.
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Once more, with feelinghttps://jacobinmag.com/2021/05/joe-biden-radical-policy-liberalism-first-100-days …
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Replying to @LukewSavage
Biden is not at all a radical but any Democratic presidency offers organizing opportunities for the left that are more fertile than a Republican one (because prodding action is more fruitful than playing defense).
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Replying to @HeerJeet
I think that's largely true, but it's not the question I was setting out to explore
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Replying to @LukewSavage
Sure, but I think once we settle the easy question (no, of course Joe Biden is not a radical) there's still a very important issue of what the left can do in a Biden presidency.
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Replying to @HeerJeet
For large sections of the American media, this is not an easy question though. There's been a quite sustained narrative about Biden's ostensible radicalism, transformative ambitions, etc. That's what I was primarily responding to.
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Replying to @LukewSavage @HeerJeet
Which is to say, people like you and I might have a different view on Biden but there's a pretty ironclad consensus right now around the idea that he's an aggressive reformist
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Agree absolutely that this consensus needs to be fought.
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Replying to @HeerJeet @LukewSavage
imo, the Biden presidency is neither radical, nor what you would have expected if you posited that Biden's own political history would be more salient to his governing approach than the leftward shift within the Trump-era Democratic Party in general and wonk class in particular
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