By Sahil Kapur - NBC News
WASHINGTON - For Democrats celebrating Joe Biden's projected victory,
the joys caused by Donald Trump's defeat are likely to be short-lived
as the president-elect faces enormous challenges.
The Democratic Party has big plans: from defeating the coronavirus to expanding access to health care and addressing climate change, it also seeks to expand voting rights and reform criminal justice.
There will be tension between progressives who want to pursue an aggressive agenda and moderates who try to show a message of unity and seek cooperation with Republicans after a painful election.
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As he begins to implement his transition plans, Biden may begin to feel pressure from the left wing of his party.
"There will be no honeymoon because there was no wedding," said Ezra Levin, co-founder of the progressive group Indivisible.
“This is an association.
It is an association to save democracy.
No one has any illusions that the reforms we want to see are going to happen automatically, ”he added.
"The reason why there cannot be a honeymoon period is because we don't have much time," he
concluded, "we have to start working."
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Biden campaigned to unite the country and formulated an ambitious progressive agenda.
But you will face big obstacles:
- Unless Democrats win two prominent seats in Georgia, Republicans will control the Senate and have a veto on their legislative agenda, cabinet elections and judicial nominees.
- Democrats have a reduced minority in the House of Representatives which will limit their actions.
- The new Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, could restrict the executive actions that Biden can take without Congress.
Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, is considered the most moderate member of his party and asked his colleagues to put aside partisanship and "seek bipartisan solutions" to the country's problems.
"Now, more than ever," he said, "it is
time for us to come together to end toxic political tribalism
and invest in the values and principles that have made our nation the greatest country on Earth."
But liberals will insist otherwise.
"I know Joe Biden likes to see himself as a negotiator, but this is not the 1970s anymore," said Waleed Shahid of the activist group Justice Democrats, which is allied with progressive lawmakers like Senator Bernie Sanders, and Rep. Alexandria. Ocasio-Cortez.
"Any kind of toxic deal with Mitch McConnell is likely to demobilize the Democratic electorate
,
" he
added.
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Shahid said progressives will pressure Biden to use his executive authority to advance "important parts of his agenda, particularly the climate crisis."
Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, Republican senators from Georgia, are preparing for the January 5 runoff against Democratic opponents Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, respectively.
Unless both Republicans are defeated, the chamber will be led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Republican Senator from Kentucky.
If so,
Biden will be the first president to take office without full control of Congress since 1989
.
"These are unchartered waters for two polarized parties in the modern era," Shahid said.
Either way, the left of the Democratic Party will keep up the pressure.
"We are going to introduce Medicare for all, believe me, we are going to do it
," Sanders said in a conversation with the so-called
Democratic squad
days before the election.
"And the New Green Deal, we are not going to give that up," he added.
In that conversation, Ocasio-Cortez praised Sanders for challenging the Democratic Party to be bolder and said that their collective efforts
"will prevent the drift to the right of the Democratic Party
.
"
Top Democratic aides said they are waiting to see if McConnell will take a defiant or conciliatory stance after Biden's victory.
“Senate Democrats will go two ways,” said a Democratic aide, “First, to achieve the policy changes that we believe the nation needs, we will have to work hard to win in Georgia.
Second, we must have an idea of McConnell's position.
Does McConnell want to make a deal or roll back to Obama-era obstruction?
”.