Joe Biden, the Democrats’ virtual presidential candidate, is forging a flag of liberal populism to use against President Donald Trump in the November election.
Biden has vowed that if he gets to the White House, he will define his presidency with a broader economic agenda than any other Americans have seen since the Great Depression and industrial mobilization for World War II.
In a blacksmith shop a few kilometers (miles) from what was his childhood home in Pennsylvania, he said his plan will counter centuries of institutional racism.
He said his plan would not only respond to a pandemic-induced recession, but would address centuries of racism and systemic inequalities with “a new American economy” that “finally and fully complies with the words and values enshrined in this nation’s founding documents. : that we are all created equal ”.
It was a surprising promise from Biden, 77, a career politician who has been more a negotiator than a visionary reformer, but made clear his intention to test the scope of liberal populism as he tries to create a coalition that can defeat Trump.
Trump and his Republican allies contend that Biden’s stance, especially his continued work with progressives, demonstrates that he is a hostage of a “radical” left wing.
For their part, activists who backed Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primaries are encouraged, albeit cautious, about Biden’s ability to move forward, while admitting that his plans on issues like climate change and Criminal justice still do not live up to their ideals.
Biden’s inner circle insists that his approach to elections has been the same since he was elected to the Senate in 1972: knowing the moment and adjusting.
“He has always evolved,” said Ted Kaufman, the longest serving adviser to Biden. “What has been constant throughout his career, almost 50 years, is that he never promises things that he does not think he can fulfill.”
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