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**NOVEMBER 4, 2020**

Kuttner on TAP

Can Biden Govern With a Republican Senate?

****

It now looks like Biden will squeak through by taking Michigan,
Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. But in the Senate, Republicans will likely
have 51 seats.

If Mitch McConnell is leader of a Republican majority again, what then?
For starters, Biden will have to govern as a more centrist president. It
will take some doing for him to get a Cabinet confirmed.

The most important players will be the three Republican Senate
moderates: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, and Susan
Collins of Maine. Biden will need to reach out to them and see if they
will occasionally break Republican caucus discipline and vote to pass
crucial legislation and confirm nominees.

Something similar occurred in 2009 when President Obama found three
Republican senators to help him pass the Recovery Act-Arlen Specter
(Pennsylvania), Olympia Snowe (Maine), and, yes, Susan Collins. Their
price was a much weaker act that redirected hundreds of billions from
public investment to tax cuts.

Thus the danger. To get nominees confirmed, Biden would need to shop
them first to McConnell and then to the three moderates. That means his
Cabinet will be even more centrist than it already was going to be. And
forget Rooseveltian legislation in the first two years.

One ray of hope: There is a very vulnerable class of GOP senators up in
2022. But in the meantime, Biden has to deliver something to an anxious
electorate.

~ ROBERT KUTTNER

Follow Robert Kuttner on Twitter

Robert Kuttner's latest book is
The Stakes: 2020 and the Survival of American Democracy
.

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Long Day's Journey Into What?

The election as of 5 a.m. Eastern time looks profoundly depressing even
if Biden wins. BY HAROLD MEYERSON

Strong Early Vote in Georgia Limits Problems on Election Day

There were few problems reported in Savannah and across the state, as
the value of early voting is reinforced. BY BRITTANY GIBSON

Unsanitized, Election Edition: Nobody Knows Anything

Don't believe anyone saying the election reinforces their worldview.
This is The Election 2020 Daily Report for November 4, 2020. BY DAVID
DAYEN

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