Biden blows up the notion RBG’s seat helps the right
Opinion by
Columnist
September 21, 2020 at 6:45 a.m. CDT
Democratic
presidential nominee Joe Biden gave his most compelling speech of
the campaign Sunday, blowing away the notion that the Republicans’ effort to
jam through a confirmation to fill the seat held by Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
is in any fashion a plus for the right. Rather, in a soberly delivered speech,
Biden demonstrated why this newest wrinkle in the race serves as a boost to
Democrats’ chances in winning the Senate majority and the White House — and
ultimately reversing any damage two-faced Republicans would do in the meantime.
Biden
accomplished several essential tasks. First, like Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) and other Democrats earlier Sunday, he formulated that the open seat
boils down to preserving the Affordable Care Act. “In the middle of the worst
global health crisis in living memory, Donald Trump is before the Supreme Court
trying to strip health-care coverage away from tens of millions of families.
This took away the peace of mind of more than 100 million Americans with
preexisting conditions,” Biden said. “If he succeeds,
insurers could once again discriminate or drop coverage completely for people
living with preexisting conditions like asthma, diabetes, cancer and so many
other problems.” The former vice president continued that “if Donald Trump has
his way, the complications from covid-19 … like lung scarring and heart damage,
could become the next deniable preexisting condition.” Biden did mention other
issues such as abortion and voting rights, but plainly he is folding the fight
over the court seat into the two best issues for him — Trump’s failure to
handle the pandemic and his attempts to take away health-care coverage.
Second,
he put the fight in simple terms of fairness. Republicans think they can make
up rules and rewrite them for their benefit without regard to — indeed, despite
— majority opinion. Bullying your way through fights with nonsensical blather
to disguise your motives is antithetical to democracy. Biden stressed over and
over again that voting is already underway, which means Trump is
disenfranchising voters who want a say in the next justice.
Third,
Biden made the most of his ability to appeal to the most persuadable senators while
sending a message to moderates and disaffected Republicans that he intends to
end the cycle of inflammatory partisanship. “I’m not speaking to President
Trump, who will do whatever he wants. I’m not speaking to Mitch McConnell, who
will do what he wants, and he does,” Biden said, acknowledging
these men are beyond reason and utterly shameless. “I’m speaking to those
Republicans out there, Senate Republicans, who know deep down what is right for
the country … not just what’s best for their party.” That would be Republicans
such as Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and any others with a speck of intellectual
honesty:
To jam
this nomination through the Senate is just an exercise in raw political power,
and I don’t believe the people of this nation will stand for it. President
Trump has already made it clear this is about power. Pure and simple. … Action
and reaction. Anger and more anger. Sorrow and frustration at the way things
are in this country now politically. That’s the cycle that Republican senators
will continue to perpetuate if they go down this dangerous path they have put
us on.
We need to de-escalate —
not escalate. That’s why I appeal to those few Senate Republicans — the handful
who will really decide what happens. Please, follow your conscience. Don’t vote
to confirm anyone nominated under the circumstances President Trump and Senator
McConnell have created. Don’t go there. Uphold your constitutional duty — your
conscience. Let the people speak. Cool the flames that have been engulfing our
country.
That
message, delivered in sober and quiet terms, is one that less partisan
Americans are hungering for. “We can’t keep rewriting history, scrambling
norms, ignoring our cherished system of checks and balances,” Biden said. That’s precisely
what voters who want to end the downward spiral of incendiary politics want to
hear. Here is someone who understands that authoritarian power plays tear the
country apart.
Toward
the end of his remarks, Biden again drove that message home, promising relief
from the insane, mean-spirited partisanship Trump has adopted. “I’ve said it
many times in this election. We are the United States of America. There’s
nothing we cannot do if we do it together,” he said. “Donald Trump
wants to divide this nation between red states and blue states. Between representing
those states that vote for him and ignoring those that don’t. I do not, I
cannot, I will not be that president. I’ll be a president for the whole
country. For those who vote for me and those who vote against me. We need to
rise to this moment, for the sake of our country we love.”
Fourth,
Biden gave the best explanation for why presidents should not resort to lists
of judges, pointing out that this Trump gimmick is also an assault on our
democratic norms. “First, putting a judge’s name on a list like that could
influence that person’s decision-making as a judge — and that would be wrong.”
In addition to setting the nominee up for “unrelenting political attacks”
without the ability to respond, putting together a list unilaterally violates the
fundamental process of advice and consent. “Only after consulting Democrats and
Republicans in the United States Senate — and seeking their advice and asking
for the consent,” Biden said. “I will consult
with senators in both parties about that pick, as well as the legal and civic
leaders. In the end, the choice will be mine and mine alone, but I will
consult. But it will be the product of a process that restores our finest
traditions — not the extension of one that has torn this country apart.”
Finally,
he signaled quietly to the left that Republicans’ chicanery will not stand.
Liberals
over the weekend poured out their grief, anger and defiance as they honored
their icon, donating millions,
gathering at memorials and vowing to fight for RBG as she fought for them.
“That moment is now for the voters to get a chance to be heard — and their
voice should be heard. And I believe voters are going to make it clear — they
will not stand for this abuse of power,” he said. “There’s no
discussion about what happens if the Senate confirms — on eve of election — or
in a lame duck after Donald Trump loses — a successor to Justice Ginsburg.” He
need not make the argument that the consequences will be far worse for
Republicans than failure to steal another seat; activists, pundits and Democratic
candidates can do that. With an open seat, however, Biden can seal the deal
with ex-supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) who now understand the stakes
and Biden’s ability to prevent their worst nightmares from coming to fruition.
When he says that “this
nation will continue to be inspired by Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but we should not
only be inspired by her, we should be guided by her,” the left hears that they
must fight like RBG, with tenacity and purpose.
In
short, Biden managed to appeal both to the left and the exhausted middle of the
electorate. He framed the issue as one of fairness and of the ACA’s survival.
And he made clear that responsibility for further destruction of our system
rests with Republicans, who can choose to pull back. In many ways, it was the
most intricate and multilayered speech of his career. It certainly was the most
presidential.
