Conflict was always destined between Joe Biden the healer and Joe Biden the agent of change. Healing America meant turning on the bipartisan charm he deployed in the Senate for 36 years. Changing America means bypassing a Republican party that has no intention of giving him any legislative wins.
To govern is to choose. In the coming days, Biden will have to decide which of his two personas matters more. He could permit his agenda to judder to a halt in the quest of a gauzy bipartisan past. Or he can move away from Washington’s vacant middle ground in favour of passing bills. It is a measure of the tension between the two Bidens that we still cannot be sure which way he will turn.
