Bidenomics Are Real. And They’re Spectacular.
The centrist president of our dreams keeps doing centrist-president stuff and the economy is great. Also: Trump is beating Biden, so 🤷♂️ . . .
Are you guys ready for a ride? Because today I’m taking you to the top of the mountain, where there’s sunshine and clear skies.
And then I’m going to take you to the gates of Hell.
Buckle up, ladies.
1. Marc Elias, Bye-Byeus
I never paid attention to Marc Elias until Charlie took him to task a couple years ago for being the kind of counterproductive Democratic operative who gets some wins but ultimately hurts the collective effort to defend liberal democracy by insisting that he will have no allies to the right.
Here’s Charlie:
Marc Elias’s idée fixe is dragging the media for being nice to Republicans like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. In tweet after tweet after tweet after tweet, he ignores the other 200+ GOP members of Congress, while dragging the handful of Republicans who have been the most outspoken about the attacks on January 6. . . .
This seems, um, skewed . . . and more than a little counterproductive, especially in the context of the ongoing attack on democratic norms. . . .
So, last week after Tim Alberta profiled Rep. Peter Meijer — one of the 10 Republicans who voted for Trump’s second impeachment — Elias insisted that the media stop “making heroes” of anti-Trump Republicans. And by “heroes,” he means giving them any credit for the stands they have taken. . . .
His contempt for Meijer is consistent with his stance on other anti-Trump Republicans. Despite Liz Cheney’s role on the 1/6 committee, Elias is triggered by favorable coverage or suggestions that she might be showing political courage.
Anyway, some good news: Joe Biden just kicked this guy to the curb.
The big picture: The split between Biden's team and Elias — who had represented the DNC since 2009 — reflects a larger fight within the party on the best legal approach to expand and protect voting rules.
Elias argues Democrats should be fighting on every possible front — filing a flurry of lawsuits and exerting public pressure through the media.
Biden’s team, long guided by lawyer Bob Bauer, is concerned that while Elias' approach may be emotionally satisfying and make for good headlines, it can backfire with the current conservative makeup of the judiciary. . . .
Zoom in: Bauer and Elias faced off last year during the negotiations on strengthening the Electoral Count Act, the law that Donald Trump tried to get Mike Pence to exploit on Jan. 6, 2021.
Bauer had helped craft the bipartisan bill behind the scenes.
Elias was openly critical of the proposed bill . . .
Many people involved in the negotiations felt that Elias' tactics were more grandstanding than constructive. . . .
“Bob Bauer was a constructive and insightful sounding board for the senators as they developed the proposals, while Marc Elias’ contribution was serving as a Twitter troll who tried to undermine the effort at every turn,” said one Senate aide.
So: Biden gets the very important Electoral Count Act passed and then pushes out the polarizing puritan who’s more interested in grandstanding than governing. Just one more case of Joe Biden being the normie Dem trying to get stuff done.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Biden is the centrist president America asked for.
But wait, because we’re just gettin’ started with the Biden love . . .
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