America appears polarized and divided. Republicans and Democrats view each other not as rivals but as mortal enemies. Public opinion data shows that the gap between the two parties has seemingly never been wider.
How, then, do we explain the presidency of Joe Biden, who continues to win one bipartisan legislative victory after another?
The president’s latest win came over the weekend, when he struck a deal with House Republicans to raise the debt limit and work out a budget framework that is likely to avoid a government shutdown this fall. This follows similar successes, such as a bipartisan infrastructure bill, the most sweeping gun control measure in decades and legislation to strengthen the U.S. computer chip industry against China. Biden has also signed into law bipartisan measures to reform the Postal Service, expand veterans’ benefits and even protect same-sex marriage.
In the 2020 campaign, many jaded analysts and activists mocked Biden’s claims that he could reach across the aisle and work with Republicans. Yet here we are.
Rather than demonize his political opponents, Biden sought to meet them halfway.
How has Biden fulfilled this goal again and again? Perhaps it’s because he is the antithesis of our current political dysfunction. Like “no-drama Obama,” the man Biden served under as vice president, he is “no-drama Joe.”
Leading up to the weekend’s agreement, some House Democrats grumbled that the president was maintaining radio silence and refusing to publicly criticize Republicans, who were, in effect, holding the economy hostage. But holding back most likely built trust between the two sides — as did Biden’s concession in agreeing to negotiate after months of having said he wouldn’t. Rather than demonize his political opponents, he sought to meet them halfway.
And in the wake of a debt limit agreement that looks like a clear win for the White House, Biden has resisted the urge to spike the football. As he told reporters Monday: “One of the things that I heard some of you saying is ‘Why doesn’t Biden say what a good deal it is?’ … You think that’s going to help get it passed? No.” Avoiding a victory lap allows House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., to tout the deal as a GOP win and build support in his caucus for passage.
None of this should come as a huge surprise, considering that Biden’s defining personality trait — and arguably his greatest political appeal — is his empathy. A man who has famously offered a shoulder to cry on for those who have, like him, seen “how mean, cruel and unfair life can be sometimes” is better equipped than most to put himself in the shoes of his political opponents — and even extend them a political lifeline.
Indeed, Biden’s victory in 2020 came, in part, because he was the proverbial adult in the room, who was willing to put aside partisan differences to get things done. Whereas Donald Trump was cruel and capricious, Biden was compassionate. Trump’s harshness contrasted negatively with Biden’s hopefulness. Voters will reward the politicians who turn down the heat, rather than the ones who keep throwing gasoline on the fire. Liberal critics argue that Biden could have invoked the 14th Amendment, raised the debt limit and avoided making any compromises with Republicans. But such a move would have created — from the White House’s perspective — uncertainty and drama. Now there will be no default, no confusing unilateral measure, no reliance on Supreme Court approval and no government shutdown in the fall. For no-drama Joe, that’s a far better outcome. It reminds voters why they liked him in the first place and might be inclined to vote for him in November 2024. And it comes when the rhetoric of Republicans is only getting more hostile. This week, one of the men seeking to replace Biden — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — declared, “I will serve two terms, and I will be able to destroy leftism in this country.” Can anyone imagine Biden saying something that nasty and divisive? It’s precisely his unwillingness to engage in the same sort of gutter-dwelling politics that separates him from much of the current political pack. The debt limit fight has magnified a point that perhaps gets lost in the litany of genuine (and manufactured) outrages that define our political moment: Most Americans would prefer less conflict, not more. Voters will reward the politicians who turn down the heat, rather than the ones who keep throwing gasoline on the fire. That was certainly the case when Biden won election in 2020, and it arguably helped Democrats overperform in the 2022 midterms. If Biden is able to ride his positive politics to re-election in 2024, it may prove contrary to an old and oft-repeated saw. Sometimes good guys finish first.
Michael Cohen is an MS NOW columnist. He is also the publisher of the newsletter Truth and Consequences and hosts the weekly podcast That ‘70s Movie Podcast. 
