The Point: Joe Biden has spent his entire life preparing for this week

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September 27, 2021 | by Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski

Joe Biden has spent his entire life preparing for this week

If you asked President Joe Biden to sum up his life -- and political career -- in a single term, he would probably say "deal-maker."

While Biden tends to be self-deprecating about many things, his unique ability to make deals is not one of them.

"Give me a break," Biden told Politico when questioned about his ability to makes deals a few years back. "I've been doing this my entire career. I'm going to say something outrageous: I don't know anybody who counts votes better than me in the Senate."

In 2019, Biden sounded a similar note in a speech to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

"My whole career I've been able to get a lot of things done," he said at the time. "I know I am being criticized by some on the far left that I ... actually think we should work with Republicans. But how do you get something done [without that]?"

Then this in 2020: "I'm going to say something outrageous. I'm not bad at this because people know whatever I tell them, I will do. I'll keep my word."

And even in his victory speech after winning the 2020 election, Biden referred to his desire to bring people together.

"I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify," he said. "Who doesn't see red and blue states, but a United States."

Joe Biden, meet the most important week of your life.

If ever there was a man for the moment -- the moment being more than $4.5 trillion in government spending that congressional Democrats are trying to pass this week -- it's Joe Biden.

If you believe Biden that the work of his life has been deal-making -- and there's ample evidence in deals he cut with then-Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during his years as vice president -- then now is the time for him to show and prove that he can do it on the biggest stage with the biggest stakes.

(Sidebar: McConnell himself has openly acknowledged Biden's deal-making capacity. "There is a reason 'Get Joe on the phone' is shorthand for 'time to get serious' in my office," McConnell said back in 2016.)

Yes, the task is significant -- trying to thread the needle between liberals and moderates within his own party to find a way to get almost the entirety of his first-term agenda done with these two pieces of legislation.

But that's what Biden asked for -- and what he has long told us he is uniquely suited to do.

The Point: It's put up or shut up time for Biden. And the success or failure of his administration may well be riding on it.

-- Chris

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Each time the doorbell rang unexpectedly at our home in Massachusetts, we would race each other to be the first to ask, 'Could that be Joe Biden coming to apologize in person?'"

-- Anita Hill, in her forthcoming book "Believing," wrote about Biden's promise to apologize to her for the Clarence Thomas SCOTUS hearing, in which she testified that Thomas had sexually harassed her, and the time she spent waiting for that apology ahead of his 2020 presidential bid.

MONDAY'S MUST-SEE TWEETS

1. A 🧵 on "Red Covid"

2. One good chart on the death of bipartisanship

3. Biden gets his 3rd 💉

4. It still basically looks the same, right?

5. David Letterman asked Kevin Durant a question

CHRIS' GOOD READS

The willingness of Republicans who were once fiercely opposed to Donald Trump to flip to ardently defending him for their own political concerns is a huge story right now. And this New York Times look at one of those flip-floppers -- Harriet Hageman in Wyoming -- is enlightening about how the GOP is Trump's party. Period.

John Woodrow Cox of The Washington Post has been writing powerful stories of gun violence over the last few years. His latest -- on a little girl who was shot (and all that came after) -- is gripping.

Consider this: What if the fight over (nonexistent) election fraud in 2020 was just the beginning of a years-long attempt to discredit election results Trumpworld doesn't like? Politico considers the possibility.

Ben Smith's Monday media column in The New York Times is ALWAYS a must-read. His investigation into Ozy, a millennial media company, is at turns ridiculous and eye-opening.

The most haunted places in the world? CLICK.

MUSICAL INTERLUDE

Daniel Lanois got world-famous for his work with U2. But he has been making beautiful ambient music for a very long time. His new single is called "Blue Steel."

MEANWHILE, IN GEORGIA

GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker is avoiding public events and questions from the press assiduously, even as he settles in as the front-runner for the Republican nomination for US Senate in Georgia, reports CNN's Michael Warren.

He made his first public speech this weekend: On Saturday, Walker gave his first public speech since announcing his campaign at Trump's rally in Perry, in central Georgia. The address lasted less than 10 minutes, with Walker leaning heavily on platitudes and nods to his biography.
It's a strategy: The bunker strategy is the brainchild of some of the most experienced advisers in regional GOP politics who have joined Walker's campaign. Sen. Lindsey Graham, of neighboring South Carolina, has sent over a couple of top members of his campaign, including longtime adviser Scott Farmer, to help Walker's team get off the ground.
Biding time until the May primary: For now, the campaign is operating under the assumption that Walker's celebrity in Georgia plus the endorsement from Trump will be enough to carry him through the GOP primary next May.

ONE BOOSTER SHOT

President Biden received his Covid-19 vaccine booster shot on Monday afternoon at the White House, just days after booster doses were approved by federal health officials.

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