Ross Douthat observes that, while issues pertaining to Trump’s self-regard are non-negotiable, virtually all matters of policy are. He thinks this kind of cynical populism is a strength of the man on golf cart and advises Biden to follow his example. Is he right about both Trump and Biden?
He is absolutely correct about Trump, with one exception; an extensive record shows that the man on golf cart is genuinely wedded to his reactionary ideas about mercantilism and returning America to the economy of the 1950s. As to Biden, let’s consider Douthat’s examples of how the current president could triangulate successfully:
- On Gaza, Douthat admits that Biden has taken an intermediate path and received credit for it from no one. In reality, Biden is not triangulating on Gaza; he is taking a consistent, principled, well-defined path towards ultimately improving the Middle East that has not really borne fruit yet.
- On immigration, Biden has clearly moved to the center over the last few months, as Douthat would wish. That process has just taken too long for some members of the center. One of the factors to consider here, however, is that the left has had success litigating immigration cases against the administration based on the theory that even Biden’s supposedly lenient policies have been indistinguishable from Trump’s. That would come as news to most people, but it’s true; in that sense, Biden has been triangulating from his first day in office.
- On abortion, a large majority of the public supports Biden and opposes the right. Why would he move off a popular position?
- On electric cars, the latest rules have slowed down the pace of the transition somewhat. Should Biden trumpet that as a wise concession to public opinion at the risk of offending the blue base? I have my doubts.
The bottom line here is that Biden was bound to do plenty of triangulation the minute the blue team lost control of the House of Representatives. He’s already doing that. To go much beyond what he is already doing would offend the blue base without winning over many swing voters, most of whom will be making a decision based on Trump’s behavior and the state of the economy in any event.