In his third run for president, Joe Biden finally secured the Democratic presidential nomination and opened his Thursday night acceptance speech on a unifying note.

"I'm a proud Democrat," Biden said. "And I'll be proud to carry the banner of our party into the general election. ... But while I'll be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I'll work hard for those who didn't support me — as hard for them as I did for those who did vote for me."

He continued, "That's the job of a president — to represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment."

This was an effective pitch to voters. One of the criticisms of President Donald Trump that will likely resonate beyond the core Democratic electorate is that Trump is petty and thin-skinned. He often comes across as if he's only interested in taking care of his "people," without appreciating the weight of the office, or understanding his responsibility to serve all people.

After years of partisan battles, persuadable voters are no doubt ready to move toward a more civil form of politics, even if it only exists in romanticized notions of the past.

While Biden's pitch might be politically effective, however, the nonpartisan message is incongruous with the agenda that Biden has outlined in the campaign, which, if enacted, would represent the most sweeping liberal changes in American history.

On the day that Biden was accepting his nomination with a message of unity, Sen. Chuck Schumer, who hopes to be Senate majority leader come January, reaffirmed that he was prepared to kill the filibuster using the so-called nuclear option if it were necessary to advance liberal policy goals. Biden has also signaled openness to the idea.

The four nights of the Democratic National Convention were reminders of this central tension. Viewers heard a pitch from former Republican Gov. John Kasich and saw a video of Biden's close friendship with the late Sen. John McCain. There were constant references to Biden's ability to work with Republicans and bring people together.

But at the same time, there were the constant reminders of the coalition Biden would be working with — socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders and radical lawmakers Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Biden's pick for vice president, Sen. Kamala Harris, has one of the most liberal voting records in the Senate and called for the elimination of private health insurance and confiscation of guns.

Biden has proposed trillions of dollars in new taxes and spending as well as the creation of a government-run health care plan that was too extreme of an idea to be included in the health care law President Barack Obama signed. And he has backed taxpayer funding of abortions, forced by the left to abandon his previous ground on the issue.

As a candidate, especially running a low-key campaign in the time of a pandemic, Biden may be able to paper over this tension. But it is not something that he will be able to ignore as president.

That is, either Biden follows through on his promises to be a nonpartisan leader who works with and represents Republicans as well as Democrats, in which case, he will have to scale back his ideological agenda.

Or, he will try to follow through on his promises to the left wing of his party, in which case, he's going to have to push Schumer to kill the filibuster and ram through his agenda on a partisan basis.

In this sense, there is a lesson from the presidency of his old boss, Obama. He ran in 2008 as a post-partisan figure while proposing a transformational agenda. By the end of his presidency, he was boasting that he had a "pen and phone" and was governing by executive order.

The Washington Examiner

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

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