Image: www.imago-images.de / UPI Photo
politics
The US President has achieved a great deal. For this very reason, he should not seek a second term.
Philipp Löpfe / watson.ch
The Brent Spence Bridge connects the two states of Kentucky and Ohio. It’s an important part of America’s infrastructure, and it’s also been a problem child for decades. Not only can it no longer handle the mass of cars and trucks that cross it every day, it is also so dilapidated that it poses a real danger to life and limb life represents.
The problem has been known for years. President Barack Obama wanted to renovate the bridge, as did Donald Trump. Both have failed. Not so Joe Biden: He attended the ceremony to mark the start of construction of a new bridge a few days ago. He was joined by Mitch McConnell, Republican Senate Minority Leader, and Mike DeWine, Republican Governor of Ohio.
Handshake with political opponents: Joe Biden (right) and Mitch McConnell in front of the Brent Spence Bridge.Image: AP / Patrick Semansky
The ceremony at the bridge showed Biden in top form. Despite the bitter dispute between the two American parties he finally managed to realize an overdue and necessary project. The bridge is symbolic of a whole series of Biden’s bipartisan successes: He pushed Covid aid through Congress, as well as a mini Green New deal and a law that massively supports American chip production. He even enforced stricter gun laws, which previously seemed impossible.
Biden has also scored in foreign policy. The troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, while chaotic, was long overdue. All those who see it as a sign of weakness USA were bitterly disappointed, especially Vladimir Putin. Biden has succeeded in creating a united front of the West against the brutal Russian attack on the Ukraine to orchestrate. He reunited NATO, trampled underfoot by Donald Trump, and with two new members, Sweden and Finland, added. In Asia did he succeed Japan and South Korea to defense partners against China to unite and to improve the relationship with India.
The lunatics have taken over the Republicans
After the midterm elections, which were successful for the Democrats, Biden can now reap the rewards. He will inaugurate further significant infrastructure projects. The American middle class will be happy that, thanks to Biden, the inflated drug prices, especially for insulin, are finally falling; and with a bit of luck even that will business soft landing.
“Make America Great Again” was the mantra of the ex-president, Donald Trump.Image: AP / Ross D Franklin
The Republicans, on the other hand, are in the worst crisis in a long time. The election as Speaker of the House of Representatives not only showed that at the Grand Old party (GOP) the inmates of the madhouse have taken power. She has also made it abundantly clear that the party is leaderless. Even Donald Trump hasn’t managed to get the rebels to reason, yes, his hardcore fans are increasingly treating him like an aging patriarch who is slightly gaga, whom they still love but no longer take him seriously.
Trump’s influence is melting like a snowball in hell, and the fact that he has countless criminal cases against him and will likely be indicted doesn’t really strengthen his power. However, an alternative to Trump is far and wide not in sight.
Almost a hundred years ago, comedian Will Rogers coined the legendary saying: “I’m not a member of any organized political party. I’m a Democrat.” This saying hit the nail on the head for a long time. The Democrats were notorious for intra-party strife and chaos. But currently the opposite is true: they stood united behind their new leader Hakeem Jeffries, who succeeded Nancy Pelosi.
A political star is born: Hakeem Jeffries, the new leader of the Democrats in the House of Representatives.Image: www.imago-images.de / UPI Photo
An impressive track record, a divided opposition: What was to stop Joe Biden from running for a second term? Common sense. As is well known, the US President is no longer the youngest. In addition, a president’s second term is usually more difficult than the first. The allure of the new is gone. Big shots are no longer possible because the opposition controls one or even both chambers of Congress.
In addition, nobody wants the duel between Biden and Trump to be repeated. “It would be a fight that would plunge the entire nation into a depression,” notes Peggy Noonan in the Wall Street Journal. “There is a huge hunger to finally close this chapter.”
Even if Trump were to become the GOP’s presidential nominee, which is becoming increasingly unlikely, Biden would be doing himself a disservice by running for a second term. The Democrats have enough candidates who can stand up to any Republican challenger, such as the aforementioned Jeffries, or the still-influential Senator Amy Klobuchar, or Ro Khanna, a brilliant representative from Silicon Valley, or Gretchen Whitmer, the governor from Michigan , or …
Amy Klobuchar is a Minnesota State Senator.Image: AP / Robert F Bukaty
Another legendary saying in Washington is: When it comes down to it, “the Democrats fall in love and the Republicans close ranks.” (Unfortunately, the saying only works in English: “Democrats fall in love, and republicans fall in line.”) That’s no longer true either. The Democrats have finally recognized the value of pragmatic politics and have realized that if they act as one, they can defeat the Republicans.
Joe Biden should use this insight and make room for a younger one at the peak of his political career – and bask in it as a great US President in the Story enter into.
Almost ten months after the start of the war in Ukraine, Russia has again intensified its attacks on the country. The fighting is raging mainly in the east of the country. But the capital Kyiv is also a frequent target of drone attacks.