In Georgia, Biden's presidency meets early defining moment
For President-elect Joe Biden, his most defining congressional election is coming before he takes office. Both Georgia Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock must win Tuesday to split the Senate 50-50. To be sure, even a closely divided Democratic Senate wouldn’t give Biden everything he wants. While progressives say they've lowered their expectations of what's possible — even under a Democratic Senate — they still intend to push Biden. Besides misrepresenting Biden’s and most Democratic senators’ policy preferences, that characterization ignores the reality of the Senate’s roster.
Biden's push for unity faces test with Supreme Court fight
That central thesis of the Democratic presidential nominee's campaign is being severely tested by the battle over the future of the Supreme Court. Now some want Biden to add the warning that a Democratic majority and President Biden would expand the Supreme Court at their first opportunity. He was Senate Judiciary Chairman in 1987 when Democrats jettisoned a controversial Supreme Court nominee from President Ronald Reagan. Now, even as Senate Republicans seemed poised to fast-track a court confirmation, Congress remains unable to agree on another economic stabilization bill amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m going to be America’s president,” Biden insisted, “not a Democratic president.”
Trump motivates Democrats to rally behind Biden, Harris
As Democrats gather virtually this week to nominate Joe Biden for the presidency, party leaders and activists across the political spectrum agree on one unifying force: their desire to defeat President Donald Trump. Taylor nodded at Bidens pick of Kamala Harris as his running mate, the first Black woman on a major party's ticket. Despite Biden's five decades at the core of the Democratic Party, he's not a natural fit for every faction in 2020. Perez called Biden an ideal figure to tie disparate factions together with Trump as the opponent. Democrats won the House majority in 2018 largely on the strength of more moderate nominees running in suburban and exurban swing districts.
Democrats tested in first party convention of pandemic era
The Democratic National Convention, which formally begins Monday, is not a convention in the traditional sense. Along the way, Biden's party will make history by unveiling the nation's first Black vice presidential nominee, Kamala Harris. Im glad that John and other moderate-type Republicans understand that it is wrong to be supporting Trump, Sanders told The Associated Press. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist, predicted next week's convention would lack excitement. He said it likely doesn't matter, however, especially as Trump and his party prepare for their convention the following week. As excited as I am about Kamala Harris, the best weapon Democrats have is Donald Trump, Sharpton said.