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from The Syracuse Post-Standard
https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2021/02/biden-republicans-each-have-good-reason-to-compromise-commentary.html
Opinion: Biden, Republicans each have good reason to compromise
By Michael T. Hayes
February 2, 2021
While blocking President Joe Biden’s agenda could help Republicans regain the Senate majority in 2022 — always Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s primary goal — there is some good news for the president in a recent public opinion poll commissioned by the Ripon Society, a centrist Republican organization. Eight hundred voters were surveyed between Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 of last year.
Perhaps the most striking finding is that 95% of voters want the two parties to work together to solve the country’s problems, with 86% saying they “strongly” support bipartisan cooperation. Potential Republican obstructionism would defy this strong consensus on the need for the parties to work together.
More good news for Biden: When asked what the most important issues are facing the country right now, voters rank dealing with Covid-19 (56%) and fixing the economy (42%) as far and away their highest priorities. The next highest issue comes in at only 17%. Dealing with Covid and jump starting the economy are Biden’s two primary agenda items right now, so his priorities are identical with the public’s.
Taken together, these findings suggest that Biden has more leverage in dealing with Congress than is commonly understood. If Republicans refuse to cooperate with Biden’s attempts to address the public’s two most urgent priorities, Biden can appeal to the public to put pressure on lawmakers.
To do this successfully, he does not need to be a charismatic, inspirational speaker. Public support for his agenda is already strong; he only needs to shine a bright light on Republican obstructionism. His recent statement that we are in a national emergency and should start acting like it could be reprised to shame the Senate into acting.
However, the poll also suggests that the president’s decision to seek Republican backing for his Covid relief package was a smart one. Public support for Biden’s agenda is not necessarily an endorsement of the specifics of his program. Voters are closely divided on the question of who has the better solutions to our problems, the president or congressional Republicans.
Biden is trusted much more than the congressional Republicans in dealing with Covid and the health care crisis (53%-36%), probably because of Trump’s poor handling of the crisis and Republicans’ tendency to minimize its significance while Trump was in office.
The president can appeal to this clear public sentiment to counter Republican obstructionism. This is why he can say he would love to have bipartisan support for his program but will move ahead without it if necessary. This is also why Republicans seem eager to cooperate on the issue, offering an alternative Covid package of their own.
Many Democrats urge Biden to reject the Republicans’ much smaller package and pass his program intact through reconciliation, which only requires 51 votes in the Senate. While they have the votes to do this, rejecting Republican efforts to amend the bill will send a strong signal both to Republicans and to the public that Biden’s call for bipartisanship was just campaign rhetoric.
That would be a mistake for two reasons. First, the public overwhelmingly wants the two parties to work together, as noted earlier. Rejecting out of hand a Republican effort at a bipartisan compromise will not be without costs.
Second, Biden’s big edge over the Republicans on handling Covid does not carry over to other issues that will be addressed later on. With regard to economic recovery and job creation, neither side has an advantage: 47% trust the president more, while 45% trust the congressional Republicans more (a statistical tie, considering the survey’s 3.5% margin of error). Public trust is closely divided between the president and congressional Republicans on a variety of other issues as well, including immigration, trade, foreign policy and how to deal with infrastructure.
Democrats do not have a clear mandate to enact every item on their wish list through the reconciliation process with the vice president breaking ties in the Senate. For the good of the country, I am hoping Biden and the Republicans find some way to meet in the middle.
Michael T. Hayes is Professor of Political Science at Colgate University.
SOURCE: https://www.syracuse.com/opinion/2021/02/biden-republicans-each-have-good-reason-to-compromise-commentary.html
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The Ripon Society is a public policy organization that was founded in 1962 and takes its name from the town where the Republican Party was born in 1854 – Ripon, Wisconsin. One of the main goals of The Ripon Society is to promote the ideas and principles that have made America great and contributed to the GOP’s success. These ideas include keeping our nation secure, keeping taxes low and having a federal government that is smaller, smarter and more accountable to the people.