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| PRESIDENT ELECT- JEO BIDEN |
The President-elect is building his administration
on old-fashioned notions that facts matter, that commanders-in-chief
must project stability, that Cabinet officials need experience and
expertise, that a fractured nation is governable and that the world
wants the US to lead.
In
restoring a more conventional version of the presidency, Biden is using
his mandate to counter the political forces that led to Trump's rise and
which still delivered more than 73 million votes to the President,
albeit in a losing cause.
His
Washington restoration is not without risk, and is already coming into
conflict with Trump's blend of nihilistic conservatism that is likely to
dictate theRepublican
Party's strategy even when he has left the Oval
Office.
Biden laid out his bet in its most tangible form yet Tuesday as he unveiled his national security and foreign policy team,
who fanned out behind him on stage, masked and ready for action, like a
SWAT team of dark-suited technocrats riding to the rescue.
"Let's begin the work to heal and unite America and the world," Biden said.His recruits, many of them protégés, represent the antithesis of the
philosophy, style and comportment of Trump's authoritarian, "America
First" and anti-science White House that is driven by conspiracy
theories and a personality cult.
Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken has toiled for decades in government and on Capitol Hill, while rubbing shoulders with the diplomatic crowd. Jake Sullivan,
the next national security adviser, is a Rhodes scholar and Yale Law
graduate who is also a domestic policy expert. Biden's pick to be
ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has flown the flag for the United States in foreign embassies for 30 years.
Biden's
domestic, health and economic policy teams, expected to be revealed
after Thanksgiving, will likely share the same blend of experience and
knowledge after catching the eye of a President-elect who has more years
on his Washington clock than any modern predecessor.
In an interview with NBC's "Nightly News" on Tuesday, Biden said he would consider appointing a Republican to his Cabinet who had voted for Trump.
"The
purpose of our administration is once again uniting. We can't keep this
virulent political dialogue going. It has to end," Biden said.
His
overarching point is this: the American people, after watching chaos,
nepotism and anti-intellectualism in government amid a pandemic that
killed a quarter million of their fellow citizens and as the US turned
its back on its friends abroad, now just want people who know what they
are doing and don't make too much noise doing it. Each of his nominees
highlighted on Tuesday from Thomas-Greenfield, who is Black, and
Homeland Security Secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Hispanic,
represent individual departures from Trumpism in personality,
background and qualifications.
Multilateralism,
diplomacy, quiet competence, scientific rigor, inclusivity,
collegiality between top officials, respect for civil servants, the
intelligence community and a welcome for immigrants are in.
Bashing
allies, populism, nationalism, White House backbiting, despot coddling,
ring-kissing Cabinet meetings, political hacks running spy agencies,
and downplaying politically inconvenient threats -- like killer viruses
-- are out.
Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu believes that Biden's nominees reflect the man who chose them.
"The
President-elect has been demonstrating and modeling what presidential
behavior looks like," Landrieu told CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
"He
is just trying to demonstrate to the people of America what it looks
like when you have a president that is balanced, that is stable that is
thoughtful and experienced," he said.
The
President-elect is likely to adopt that persona again when he delivers a
Thanksgiving address to the American people from his hometown of
Wilmington, Delaware, on Wednesday.
Now Playing Biden unveils first...
Now Playing Biden unveils first...
(CNN)Joe Biden has already kept his first promise -- his approach to the presidency will be a top-to-bottom repudiation of the behavior, policies and obsessions of President Donald Trump.
The President-elect is building his administration
on old-fashioned notions that facts matter, that commanders-in-chief
must project stability, that Cabinet officials need experience and
expertise, that a fractured nation is governable and that the world
wants the US to lead.
In
restoring a more conventional version of the presidency, Biden is using
his mandate to counter the political forces that led to Trump's rise and
which still delivered more than 73 million votes to the President,
albeit in a losing cause.
His
Washington restoration is not without risk, and is already coming into
conflict with Trump's blend of nihilistic conservatism that is likely to
dictate the Republican Party's strategy even when he has left the Oval
Office.
Biden laid out his bet in its most tangible form yet Tuesday as he unveiled his national security and foreign policy team,
who fanned out behind him on stage, masked and ready for action, like a
SWAT team of dark-suited technocrats riding to the rescue.
"Let's begin the work to heal and unite America and the world," Biden said.
His
recruits, many of them protégés, represent the antithesis of the
philosophy, style and comportment of Trump's authoritarian, "America
First" and anti-science White House that is driven by conspiracy
theories and a personality cult.
Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken has toiled for decades in government and on Capitol Hill, while rubbing shoulders with the diplomatic crowd. Jake Sullivan,
the next national security adviser, is a Rhodes scholar and Yale Law
graduate who is also a domestic policy expert. Biden's pick to be
ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has flown the flag for the United States in foreign embassies for 30 years.
Biden's
domestic, health and economic policy teams, expected to be revealed
after Thanksgiving, will likely share the same blend of experience and
knowledge after catching the eye of a President-elect who has more years
on his Washington clock than any modern predecessor.
In an interview with NBC's "Nightly News" on Tuesday, Biden said he would consider appointing a Republican to his Cabinet who had voted for Trump.
"The
purpose of our administration is once again uniting. We can't keep this
virulent political dialogue going. It has to end," Biden said.
His
overarching point is this: the American people, after watching chaos,
nepotism and anti-intellectualism in government amid a pandemic that
killed a quarter million of their fellow citizens and as the US turned
its back on its friends abroad, now just want people who know what they
are doing and don't make too much noise doing it. Each of his nominees
highlighted on Tuesday from Thomas-Greenfield, who is Black, and
Homeland Security Secretary nominee Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Hispanic,
represent individual departures from Trumpism in personality,
background and qualifications.
Multilateralism,
diplomacy, quiet competence, scientific rigor, inclusivity,
collegiality between top officials, respect for civil servants, the
intelligence community and a welcome for immigrants are in.
Bashing
allies, populism, nationalism, White House backbiting, despot coddling,
ring-kissing Cabinet meetings, political hacks running spy agencies,
and downplaying politically inconvenient threats -- like killer viruses
-- are out.
Former New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu believes that Biden's nominees reflect the man who chose them.
"The
President-elect has been demonstrating and modeling what presidential
behavior looks like," Landrieu told CNN's Brooke Baldwin.
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