What Went Down During Joe Biden’s Inauguration

That was an inauguration that was extraordinary for its ordinariness, given the turmoil of the past few weeks, months and years. Now, the question is whether Biden can marshal public support for his presidency. Two things are at stake there: Uniting (to the extent it’s possible) a deeply divided nation and whether Biden can be an effective president and pass meaningful legislation (easier to do when you’re popular).

Biden unsurprisingly spoke of unity, of being president for those who voted against him as well as those who voted for him. This is very consistent with how he campaigned in the general election and in the primaries, and indeed how he’s campaigned most of his career. But he also balanced that message with calling out the “uncivil war” and pushing back on lies. He didn’t specifically mention Trump or QAnon, but his direction on that was clear. It was a difficult needle to thread, but it seemed like the right combination.

Sarah, Biden has really stressed unity as the overarching theme in his speech, but achieving unity is tough when Democrats and Republicans have fundamentally different perceptions around bread and butter issues like the economy. To me the big question is as follows: What electoral interest to Republicans have to work across the aisle? While many of the policies Biden has run on seem to be fairly popular even in swing states, there is a fairly substantial disconnect between where voters are and where legislators think voters are. When public opinion doesn’t necessarily translate into policy, it’s tough to see how even unity among voters is enough to generate unity among politicians in a way that addresses policy priorities for Biden that Perry discussed earlier.