His Wokelency: How Biden Addresses Political Sectarianism Could Define His Legacy

Several recent polls show a modest dip in President Biden’s popularity. Issues related to crime, immigration, and the middle class appear to be a drag on the president. Whether these new numbers represent a trend or will rebound with better news remains to be seen. Indeed, whether Biden’s polls numbers are generally solid or the third worst in recent history (after Trump and Ford) are themselves a matter of political perspective. Biden deserves credit for his handling of Covid-19, though I worry his legacy may wobble on one early failure: His lean-in on “woke” culture war issues and struggles to lead as a unity president, as he had promised when campaigning.

At this juncture, even some of Biden’s ostensible allies in the press are acknowledging his agenda has been “radical.” Stephen Collinson at CNN employed the curious oxymoron “moderate radicalism.” Biden’s agenda is arguably further to the left of any US president, and much of this has been achieved via an extraordinary number of executive actions. Despite running as a unity candidate, some sources suggest Biden has become beholden to the left-wing of his own party.

Whether any single political decision is individually good or bad is a subjective perspective (and for the record, I voted for Biden and probably agree with more of his individual decisions than I don’t). But collectively, rather than a change in political tone, they represent a continuation of recent political trends where each party attempts to ram through what it wants without compromise while it has power, only to see all that ping pong back once power changes hands. The Democrats typically complain: “But they started it.” They refer to the Republicans. That may be true, but it’s hardly a coherent governing philosophy.

As a psychologist who studies aggression and violence, I worry that our current political sectarianism has become unhinged and dangerous. This is not limited to one “side” or the other. Yet there’s a psychological phenomenon called “myside bias” that basically means it's far easier to identify nuttiness or bad behavior in one’s opponents than it is among friends and allies. We need a leader who could rise above this, become the adult in the room, and remind us that we’re all Americans. In his campaign, Biden promised to do this. It is bad for the country that he has not.

I am most concerned that Biden has leaned in so comprehensively on culture war issues. He appears willing to reduce due process protections for individuals accused of sexual assault on college campuses despite being accused of sexual assault and other unwanted touching himself (and nonetheless elected president). Biden’s virtue signaling to the left on immigration and deportation credibly contributed to the current crisis at the border (it’s a basic psychological principle that removing deterrence increases behavior.) Biden has clumsily waded into nuanced and difficult culture war issues such as whether trans girls and women should play in girls’ and women’s sports and repeats the 2020 narrative on “systemic racism” despite considerable data suggesting the truth is far more nuanced than that. Biden’s recent use of the term Latinx, which most Latinos don’t identify by, was the source of online mockery.

No narrative is without counter-evidence, and I also want to be sure to give Biden credit where he deserves it. As mentioned, his handling of the Covid-19 crisis has been stellar. And of course, it’s just nice to have a president who isn’t beclowning himself on Twitter every day. But Biden deserves credit also for reaching across the aisle and supporting a bipartisan deal on infrastructure. True, the deal was hammered out by senators from both parties and remains to be enacted into law. But Biden has embraced it and could offer leadership to see that it passes. We need more of this kind of political compromise and this moment could provide Biden an opportunity to turn his administration around. I imagine he’s getting some bad advice from woke staffers and he should tune them out in favor of pragmatists.

Currently, the US faces a panoply of crises, from vaccine rollouts to potential inflation, showdowns with China and other countries. Yet, I suspect our internal, increasingly political sectarianism will be a defining challenge for this generation. We need an exemplary leader to guide us through this morass. Trump certainly proved not to be that person. But with Biden's, as CNN’s Collinson put it, “quiet radicalism,” he is only throwing logs on the fire in his own way. The only difference is Biden promised to be a unity leader, whereas Trump never did. True, Biden at least isn’t on Twitter tossing grenades every day, but with his early record, Biden is worsening our partisanship in his own “quiet” way. It’s still early days for this administration and there is time to reset. My hope is that the bipartisan infrastructure deal is the first sign that a pivot may be coming. If Biden fails to hinge away from wokism and culture war jargon toward pragmatism and compromise, I suspect he, like Trump, will be judged by an inability to reign in our perilous and acrimonious divides.