Republicans are surely salivating over what might happen next. If Biden placates his party’s vocal progressive base, he will double down on pushing as much of his liberal agenda through as possible. If he plays for the general election, however, he angers that base. That will increase intraparty strife, which will become a major issue in 2022 as progressives challenge less-leftist incumbents and push for more left-wing policies to motivate the party’s base to vote. There’s no sign that progressives will sit quietly if Biden chooses the latter approach, and there’s no evidence that independent voters will sit quietly in the Democratic column if Biden pushes leftward.

Source: Washington Post August 18, 2021 17:26 UTC