Not as fun as Bob Dylan's advice for John Kennedy in 1963, but I do have some suggestions for Biden’s first term. Down-ballot difficulties demonstrate the importance of proactively demonstrating that centrist liberalism is America’s core, mainstream, functional politics, with the best chance to really move the nation forward.
- Do something meaningful on the southern border. Show everyone there’s an alternative to Trumpism. Beef up drug interdiction at legal border crossings and put money back into the infrastructure for processing asylum seekers. Demonstrate how to treat all humans with basic dignity.
- Make the promotion of democratic institutions, civil order and rule of law in Central America a foreign policy priority. Make clear the connections between instability in these countries and the flow of desperate people to our southern border. (Throw in a reminder of Trump’s cutting aid to those countries.)
- Pursue police reform and frame this as an effort that will benefit both police and victims. Work to set up a robust mental health aid structure spearheaded by the training of unarmed first responders who specialize in dealing with crisis situations.
- Infrastructure—yes! Do what Trump couldn’t deliver and invest in roads, rail, ports, wind, solar. This means having the balls to support pipeline projects, too—oil shipped in dangerous tanker trains & trucks is bad news. Show you are serious about realistic, phased energy transition.
- Let’s strengthen the ACA with a public option, expanded medicaid. Hammer home how Republicans try to take away basic protections (incl. preexisting conditions) in the middle of a pandemic.
- Aggressively address the plague of urban gun violence without threatening authoritarian measures. Strong federal support and targeted interdiction to staunch the cycle of gang retaliation. As Harvard’s Thomas Abt says, “to reduce violence, focus on the damn violence.”
