Romney and Cheney defend position on "big lie" 1:35
(CNN) -
As the Republican Party finds new ways to pay tribute to Donald Trump and attack democracy, Joe Biden is pushing ahead with the hard work of building a substantial presidency that could change the shape of America.
The contrasting approaches between the White House and the Republican Party sums up the risky gamble each has taken in what is beginning to look like a tumultuous and potentially decisive turning point in the political history of the early 21st century.
In the relentless march of the country through the next biennial election cycle, each side is making decisions now that will provide the basis for their strategies in the 2022 and 2024 elections in which Trumpism and bidenism will once again be on the ballot of somehow.
The president traveled to Louisiana on Thursday to promote a package that broadens the definition of infrastructure from transportation projects to broadband internet through the provision of home health care for sick or elderly Americans.
But he chose a traditional backdrop, an ancient bridge, to advocate for tax increases for corporations and the wealthiest Americans to fund vital projects, a centerpiece of his plan.
He also offered some flexibility on the scale of a corporate tax hike, while trying to get Republican senators to join in, hinting that he can settle for a 25% cap instead of his initial 28% offer.
"I'm not ready to have another period where America has another month of infrastructure and nothing changes," Biden said at a freeway bridge leading to I-10 in Lake Charles.
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"The truth is, across the country, we have failed, we have not invested adequately in infrastructure for half a century."
Biden also spent the week working on the main task of his presidency: ending the pandemic and repairing the economy. He announced a new goal to convince hesitant Americans to get vaccinated. He made the decision to back the waiver of patents on covid-19 vaccines, which have had an impact around the world and could help save millions of lives in the poorest nations. Biden also highlighted a restaurant rescue plan that is typical of his approach, as it uses a large amount of government money to safeguard a vital economic sector.
The plan is a fitting symbol of a presidency rooted in problem solving that is betting that, after a deadly pandemic, Americans have reached one of the periodic moments in history when they are willing to endorse the widespread use of the Government power to alleviate social problems and economic deprivation.
The strategy requires Biden to cut a narrow path through tiny Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, which is not guaranteed.
And if you've misjudged people's moods, you could risk a public backlash that could benefit Republicans next year.
Biden sets a goal of administering at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to 70% of the U.S. adult population by July 4.
Republicans obsessed with personality cult loyalty tests
Biden echoes Republican internal revolution 1:35
Ironically, one of the Republicans who has made one of the most targeted attacks on Biden's approach to big government is Rep. Liz Cheney.
But the Wyoming lawmaker, who is the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, may no longer have a leadership platform to make those arguments.
She is poised to be toppled as conference chair simply because she tells the truth, repeatedly, about the former president's lies about voter fraud, points out that he sparked an insurrection designed to topple Biden's victory, and pierces his cult of personality.
The fact that his possible replacement, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has become a fiercely pro-Trump lawmaker and who promotes his falsehoods, is far less conservative than Cheney, offers an eloquent picture of the GOP's priorities. modern.
Seeking to ease concerns among fiscal conservatives about his record, Stefanik played his literal card from Trump, underscoring the power of the former president's aura in his party.
"My vision is to run with the support of the (former) president and his coalition of voters," Stefanik said on Steve Bannon's radio show Thursday.
Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, one of the small group of Republican House members willing to support Cheney in his opposition to Trump, refuted Stefanik's claims that she was a unifying figure.
“I am going to step forward and say that this is not unity.
It's a capitulation to insanity, ”Kinzinger tweeted.
The full acceptance of Trump by House Republicans represents a counter-bet on the scale of the president's belief that Americans want a multi-million dollar reform of society designed to make the economy more equitable for Americans of working class.
Given Trump's popularity with Republican grassroots voters and his willingness to accept the false reality he created during last year's election, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's strategy could work as he seeks to seize control of the House next year in the midterm elections that can be decided by any party that manages to enthuse its main voters.
However, Trump's appeal is limited: He never achieved a 50% approval rating as president in the Gallup poll.
He alienated crucial suburban voters and led House Republicans to defeat in the 2018 midterm elections and lost the White House in 2020 and two subsequent Senate elections.
It's far from clear that devotion to the disgraced former president is a viable path for Republicans if Biden succeeds in his presidency and the economy does well as voters cast their votes in 2022 and 2024.
Joe Biden is more popular than Donald Trump in his first 100 days, poll finds
McConnell launches his own maneuvers
Stopping Biden, 100% of Mitch McConnell's approach 0:33
Meanwhile, on the Senate side on Capitol Hill, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to signal a characteristic policy of obstruction when he said this week that 100% of his focus was on stopping the current administration. The Kentucky Republican's comments raised the question of whether a Republican counterproposal to Biden on infrastructure and negotiations currently under way with the White House is nothing more than a political stance.
McConnell's attitude recalled a similar stance he took against the presidency of former President Barack Obama.
It may also reflect the perception by Biden, a colleague in the Senate for several years, about the gravity of the current political moment.
While Republicans in the House are already positioning themselves almost exclusively for the midterm elections, McConnell, with his House's institutional capacity to serve as a roadblock, is also concentrating on short-term efforts to thwart Biden's transformative aspirations.
But McConnell may also have offered the president an opportunity to argue that Republicans in Washington rejected his offer of compromise on key issues like infrastructure and his plans targeting American jobs and families.
His comments also immediately drew attention to West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a moderate Democrat who is a bulwark against the power of progressives in the party and wants a compromise with minority Republicans on the big issues on Biden's agenda. .
Manchin said on CNN's "Cuomo Prime Time" Wednesday night that he did not know what McConnell's reasoning was, but insisted that "there are Republicans working with Democrats who want something to happen."
Taking advantage of the lies of Trump's electoral fraud
Outside of Washington, Republican state lawmakers continued to exploit the former president's lies about voter fraud to make it difficult for Americans to vote.
In Arizona, state Senate Republicans went ahead with a false partisan recount of general election votes in Maricopa County after Biden's victory was repeatedly verified by courts and election officials.
The Texas House of Representatives, meanwhile, debated a Republican bill that would limit extended early voting hours, give more authority to partisan election watchers, and make it more difficult to cast a vote in areas of the city where voters live. Democrats.
And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law the new Sunshine State voting restrictive measures. If the goal had been to strengthen people's confidence in the electoral system, it could have held a public event.
But by exposing the partisanship behind the measure, he signed it into law on "Fox and Friends" in a stunt that excluded journalists other than those from one of Trump's preferred channels.
The fact that DeSantis is so willing to use the electoral system, the core of America's political freedoms, as support to advance his own political career shows why some experts believe he has the gall to serve as Trump's heir. , a figure whose power still hangs over Washington despite his departure to Florida more than three months ago.
Donald TrumpJoe Biden
