As Joe Biden campaigns in Virginia, Ticker News US political contributor Bruce Wolpe reflects on the future of his presidency. Wolpe is a Senior Fellow at the United States Studies Centre.
Friday evening, just before escaping to his beloved Delaware for the weekend (his, wife, the First Lady, was in Japan for the Olympics), President Biden slipped across the Potomac River into Virginia. Here, he headlined a campaign rally for Terry McAuliffe, who is running for governor. The election is in November.
Biden keeps learning – and applying – some critical lessons from when he was in the White House 12 years ago, serving as Vice President for Barack Obama. Their first year in office was dramatic, exhilarating, dynamic – and very challenging.
America (and the rest of the world) was reeling from the Global Financial Crisis. Obama and Biden won a key early victory in passing a massive economic recovery program. Obama proposed landmark universal access to health insurance – it would ultimately become Obamacare – and comprehensive energy and climate legislation to tackle global warming.
Biden learns lessons from the Obama era
2009 was also an election year for two governorships, in Virginia and New Jersey. By that November, Obamacare was still tied up in bipartisan negotiations in the Senate; it would not enact it for another 5 months. The energy and climate bill passed the House but would ultimately die in the Senate.
The economic recovery was underway, but jobs gains across the country were very slow to lock in. That August, “Tea Party” activists held raucous protest rallies against Obama’s health care proposals across the country. By that November, the political mood was quitter uncertain.
In this odd-numbered year, 12 months after the presidential election, voters in Virginia and New Jersey hold their state elections. And like by-elections in Australia, citizens can read them as a referendum on how the party that controls the White House is doing. And November 2009 was bad news for Obama, Biden, and the Democrats. Republicans won both governorships. And it was a shock.
“Tea Party” activists protesting against Obamacare
Lesson #1: go big and go fast
The pundits were in overdrive that night, saying, Democrats in big trouble! Obama took it on the nose! Too much change we cannot believe in! And this was critical because the centrist independent voters in New Jersey and Virginia voted for the Republicans. Obama won those independents only a year before.
Biden keeps applying the lessons he learned from those days. First, go big and go early and go fast. He passed the pandemic response and vaccination program within his first 50 days in office together with the $2 trillion economic recovery initiative – more than twice as large as Obama’s in 2009.
Second, don’t focus on futile negotiations in the Senate. Pending in the Senate right now is another $4 trillion on infrastructure, health care, education, climate, childcare, and other priorities. The make-or-break moment to move on it is coming now – not after November.
A double-header victory remains on the cards
So Joe Biden was in Virginia on Friday to help his good friend Terry McAuliffe win his election against a Trump-endorsed candidate – and he will do the same in New Jersey to support the popular Democrat running for re-election there. A double-header victory would signal to the country that voters support the Biden agenda.
As the Washington Post reported last week:
“Among the questions Biden is confronting are whether the Trump base will turn out when the former president is not on the ballot, whether Biden’s ambitious economic plans will be seen as a boon or a driver of rising prices and whether voters will continue to give the president high marks for his handling of the pandemic.”
Biden has zero intention of letting anyone stop his momentum in Virginia this year.
Bruce Wolpe is a Ticker News US political contributor. He’s a Senior Fellow at the US Studies Centre and has worked with Democrats in Congress during President Barack Obama's first term, and on the staff of Prime Minister Julia Gillard. He has also served as the former PM's chief of staff.
Pope Francis dies aged 88 as world mourns historic papacy
The world mourns Pope Francis, the transformative first Latin American pontiff, who died at 88, with global tributes and a nine-day mourning period ahead of a conclave.
The world mourns Pope Francis, the transformative first Latin American pontiff, who died at 88, with global tributes and a nine-day mourning period ahead of a conclave.
The world is grieving the loss of Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff and a transformative figure in the Catholic Church, who died aged 88.
Known as The People’s Pope, he championed mercy, humility, and compassion throughout his 12-year papacy.
Leaders across the globe, including President Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, have paid tribute to his lasting legacy. A nine-day mourning period begins, followed by the election of a new Pope via conclave at the Vatican.
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Pope Francis was a spiritual giant who championed humility
Pope Francis, aged 88, dies from double pneumonia, leaving a legacy of compassion and inclusion as the Church’s first Latin American and Jesuit leader.
Pope Francis, aged 88, dies from double pneumonia, leaving a legacy of compassion and inclusion as the Church’s first Latin American and Jesuit leader.
Pope Francis has died at the age of 88, following complications from double pneumonia. The Vatican confirmed his death on Monday morning, with Cardinal Kevin Farrell announcing that “the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the home of the Father” at 7:35am.
The first Latin American and Jesuit Pope, Francis led the Roman Catholic Church for over a decade, earning global praise for his humility, progressive stance, and focus on inclusion and compassion.
Just days before his passing, the Pope surprised crowds at Easter Sunday Mass, blessing worshippers in St Peter’s Square. Despite recent hospitalisation with bronchitis, he appeared in good spirits, even pausing to bless children from the Popemobile.
His death has triggered nine days of mourning in Italy. Leaders around the world have paid tribute. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called him a man “whose compassion embraced all humanity,” while Opposition Leader Peter Dutton described his devotion as unwavering.
Francis will be remembered not only as a man of many firsts — the first Jesuit Pope, the first from the Global South — but also as a tireless advocate for the poor, refugees, and marginalised communities.
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has died at 88 after a 12-year papacy marked by reform attempts and health issues.
His passing initiates a period of mourning and the process for selecting his successor.
Pope Francis, the first Latin American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has passed away.
The Vatican confirmed his death in a video statement released on Monday. His papacy lasted for 12 years and was characterised by both division and tension.
“Dear brothers and sisters, it is with profound sadness I must announce the death of our Holy Father Francis,” Cardinal Kevin Farrell announced on the Vatican’s TV channel.
“At 7:35 this morning the Bishop of Rome, Francis, returned to the house of the Father.”
Concern for the poor
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.
Pope Francis sought to reform the Roman Catholic Church, which faced criticism for its traditional practices.
At the age of 88, he had been dealing with several health issues during his time as pope. His leadership style often challenged the status quo within the Church.
Pope Francis’s death marks the end of a significant chapter in the history of the Vatican.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected pope on March 13, 2013, surprising many Church watchers who had seen the Argentine cleric, known for his concern for the poor, as an outsider.
The global Catholic community will now enter a period of mourning and reflection. The process for selecting his successor will soon begin.
Carries the weight of the changes he proposed during his tenure.
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