Biden’s Agenda in Doubt as He Aids Progressives in Fight With Moderates – The New York Times
WASHINGTON For well over a year now, President Biden s vaunted negotiating style largely boiled down to this: I m with you.
After he vanquished Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont in the Democratic primary, he brought the liberal icon s ardent supporters into the fold by embracing much of the senator s platform even as he ran on unifying the country. When moderate Democrats came to call, he used the tones of centrism to assure them of his conciliatory bona fides.
But when Mr. Biden ventured to the Capitol on Friday to help House Democrats out of their thicket, he had to choose sides. He effectively chose the left.
The way he is governing doesn t reflect the skills I know he must have from his years as a legislator, said Representative Stephanie Murphy of Florida, who had been one of the moderate Democrats demanding an immediate vote on a trillion-dollar infrastructure bill, convinced that was what the president wanted or at least needed. She called Mr. Biden s refusal to push harder for legislation he had embraced disappointing and frustrating.
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I m not clear why he came up to the Hill, she grumbled.
via www.nytimes.com