Welcome to the New Political Order. It was announced, ceremoniously, by President Biden at his Jan. 19 news conference marking the end of his first year in office. “The public doesn’t want me to be the president-senator,” Biden announced. “They want me to be the president and let senators be senators.”
Biden was announcing a transition from government by deal-making to government by leadership. Deal-making, negotiation and compromise are skills essential to a legislator. But they are not the skills essential to a president these days.
“I’m used to negotiating to get things done,” President Biden said at his press conference. “In the past, I’ve been relatively successful at it. But I think the role as president is a different role.” After all, the president, along with the vice president, are the only political offices elected by the entire country.
