Numbers Game

"I thought I entered a time machine back to the Trump era," Democratic Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey said at a Congressional Hispanic Caucus rally on the steps of the US Capitol.

"I could not comprehend how a Democratic president who vehemently countered Trump's policies as a candidate is seriously putting forward the most Trumpian anti-immigrant proposal."
Biden risks Democrats' fury over deal on border and Ukraine

One of the reason, I suspect, that people have lost a certain amount of trust in "institutions," especially political institutions, is that politicians seem to have little compunction against pandering to favored constituencies by making everything Someone Else's Fault. Because anyone with two brain cells to rub together, and even a basic understanding of politics, understands why President Biden and his team are willing to entertain meeting at least some of the Republicans' demands on this issue. The simple fact of the matter is that the Democrats don't have a majority in the House of Representatives, and House Republicans look as if they prize unanimity over providing more military aid and funding to Ukraine. And if the President genuinely wants Congress to appropriate funds for Ukraine aid, he is going to need at least some Republican votes. Concessions on immigration are the way to get those votes. Personally, I would have sought to increase penalties for employers who hire ineligible workers over attempting to seal the border, but this may be why I'm not in politics.

In any event, the current Republican Party still dances to Donald Trump's tune, and that means that in order to bring House Republicans on board with any policy he might want to enact, President Biden must at least appear to be shuffling along to the same music. And Senator Menendez, who one suspects is able to count to ten (or $580,000) without recourse to his fingers, understands this. But the blame mustn't land with the broader Democratic Party, and it certainly can't be laid at the feet of the public, and so that leaves the President, despite the fact that he's only one person in a major political operation.

As Americans seem to become more and more allergic to actually having conversations with one another regarding politics, the parties lose any ability to persuade voters that they have viable answers to the things that people perceive as problems. Mainly because it takes more than simply party messaging to sway people. A certain amount of open and genuine person-to-person communication is also part of the mix. And that's simply not in the cards these days. When politics becomes a matter of right versus wrong, people become anchored in their positions pretty quickly. Which is fine for office-holders in safe seats, where the other party barely rates an afterthought. But when things are closely divided at the national level, the parties lose the ability to make progress in such an environment (which is why Authoritarianism starts to look good to people). And the people who have worked their way up to the highest levels in the political pecking order should know that.