Biden Begins
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David, Helen and Gary reflect on what lies ahead for American politics and for the Biden administration. Does Trump pose more of a threat from inside or outside the Republican party? Is immigration about to become the central partisan dividing line once again? How much good can calls for unity do in such a fractured country? Plus, we look at Trump's list of entrants for his garden of national heroes. From Emily Dickinson to Hannah Arendt to Woody Guthrie - but no Bruce Springsteen. What's going on? Talking Points: Many in the Republican Party, including McConnell, have never liked Trump—are they now breaking with him? - Attempts to establish new parties can shake up American politics, but they rarely succeed. - The Trump candidacy was a disaster for the Republican establishment from the beginning.  - McConnell is willing to consider impeachment because Trump still represents a threat to the mainstream Republican Party. Success in American party politics requires party organization in all 50 states. - This is not the kind of work that generally appeals to Trump. - He will probably want to influence the political process from the outside, to make the existing system ungovernable. The Biden administration wants to be much more ambitious on immigration. - Previous attempts at immigration reform have failed. - Biden has an opportunity to demonstrate government competence by focusing on vaccinations. Biden has made clear that climate is a priority. - This is politically useful for holding together the Democratic party. - Biden has already pledged to cancel the Keystone Pipeline; at least on some issues he’s willing to take on the oil and gas industry. - This quickly gets into foreign policy issues, especially re China. Biden’s initial window is really two years, not four. - Democrats should not be counting on a majority in the 2022 elections. - They need to demonstrate the competence of the federal government. Though it may be difficult for any government to appear competent these days. - Mentioned in this Episode: - ‘The Garden of American Heroes’  - On Fred Trump and Woody Guthrie - The text of Joe Biden’s inaugural address Further Learning:  - More on Biden’s immigration plan - Green New Deal?  - Talking Politics American Histories… Monopoly and Muckraking And as ever, recommended reading curated by our friends at the LRB can be found here: lrb.co.uk/talking   See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.
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