It takes 2 things in the modern era to make public policy: opportunity & realism.

BC of the crisis Biden will have the opportunity to reshape the American economy & healthcare systems.

But the avenue opened to LBJ will not exist for Biden.

Its imp to recognize this constraint https://twitter.com/neeratanden/status/1253669496621092865

Its imp for people to understand WHY Obama got so little done (compared to his campaign pledges anyway) versus expectations. BC outsized expectations are a mechanism driving voter anger w the so-called "mainstream." Here is the 88th Congress that LBJ, a Dem from TX served w

His party had PARTY majorities in both chambers, but the CRA & VRA were still hard to pass- why? Its bc a chunk of the party were the southern D conservative segregations who were liberal on economic policies and racist as f' on race. That's why they are up there in the top line

That top line was once visible in ideological maps from NOMINATE (linked here) but "collapsed" after these two acts passed and finally brought southern black political power through the ability to actually use their right to vote. You should also note the cluster of red dots near

the middle of the graph, and the 2 lonely red dots on the bottom axis of the circle: those were Liberal Republicans who were pro-Civil Rights. Now, look at today's senate. Only 2 red dots anyway near the center are Collins & Murkowski. Those dots on the R's outer bands are long-

time extremist Rand Paul & Ted Cruz, but look! Outerband-top- since last time I looked the moderate Dem Joe Donnelly (IN) who lost in 2018 has been replaced by a new ideologue Mike Braun. Yeah! Also note, the extremists in the GOP are more extreme than the extremists in the Dem

Party and that further out dot is NOT Bernie Sanders, its Warren, followed by Kamala Harris, followed by Cory Booker, and THEN you get to Sanders who is only the 4th most liberal senator. Why is this? Much long record from a time long ago when moderate votes were more common-esp

on an issue Sanders was sensitive to in VT, guns. In terms of practice, I would consider Sanders the most liberal, just (FYI) but the point is Harris is NOT a moderate. Anyway, Biden, Sanders, Jesus himself would struggle to move policy through this senate which is even more

ideological fractured than it is closely party divided. And Mitch McConnell has already discovered the viability of entrenched opposition to bleed the majority of any success, thuse any good will in an electorate that doesn't have any idea why congress sucks but knows it does.

If you want to move large policy through, you have to steamroll them institutionally, and deliver an electoral mandate in 2020 that is intentionally leveraged to steamroll them via messaging.