Biden pivots on COVID. Trump, too.
“We don’t have to shut down schools because of COVID-19. We can keep our K-12 schools open. That’s exactly what we should be doing."
President Joe Biden, Dec. 21, 2021
Biden is trying to re-position Democrats. Good. Smart. High time.
It will work best if someone criticizes him bitterly for it.
Biden announced a change in direction on COVID. Democrats have been associated with COVID shutdowns and mandates. They are the disciplinarian party. The spoilsports. The ones that mandate vaccinations and say to wear masks outside. They are the party that shuts down businesses and schools and holiday gatherings. Biden is saying it is OK to start getting back to normal. Meanwhile, Trump said he was boosted and suggested others make up their own minds and then get boosted, too. He praised the vaccines and took credit for their fast development. Two pivots.
America is moving on because of Omicron, not despite it. Omicron ends any notion we can hide from COVID. This variant is very contagious, but appears not be as dangerous as the Delta variant, especially for the vaccinated and boosted. Those two facts close the loop for the COVID-concerned majority of Americans. We have no choice but to live with COVID, and we can do it. The COVID-conscientious are exhausted by COVID protocols and ready to move on. COVID-minimalists were ready from day one. Vaccine and mask resisters are everywhere, and even vaccinated people get breakthroughs and are briefly contagious. Time to go back to near-normal life, defined by vaccinations and frequent testing, not by sheltering.
Extra people will die every year. Americans are ready to pay that price, as long as they need not acknowledge openly that it will be paid. No one will say aloud that it is OK if an extra 500,000 people die in the next twelve months, but accepting deaths is the accommodation we have made with traffic and gun deaths. The deaths will be concentrated among stubborn Trump supporters who have chosen their fate, and among the elderly and sick who die in the natural course of things.
It may not be evident that Biden announced a change in direction because he has not yet caught hell for it. He needs the criticism. It would be handy if Anthony Fauci publicly condemned the policy. Biden needs some public health experts to say "Too soon! Too soon!" so that Biden can disagree. It would show that Biden is in control and not a doddering old puppet of public health professionals and White House staff.
Trump has countless flaws, but he understands public sentiment and political body language. He has a showman's skillset. He realized he was associated with vaccine refusal and stubborn know-nothing conspiracy thinking on COVID. The one-two punch of his insisting the 2020 election was stolen on top of vaccine denialism gave him a credibility problem. Trump had a solid grip on the support of rural Americans driving pickup trucks with "Let’s Go Brandon" flags, but educated suburban moderates were catching an undeniable scent of kookiness. They were vaccinated but did not notice that they had become pawns of Bill Gates or George Soros. Trump announced in front of a conservative crowd that he was boosted. He got boos. It was exactly what he needed.
The confrontation showed Trump had the courage to disagree with the vaccine-resisters he created within his own team. It gives vaccinated moderate voters a basis to think Trump is not wacky, not really. Maybe Trump isn't at fault for the disproportionate deaths among his supporters. After all, he said to get vaccinated.
The boos made us notice. Trump didn't back down. This confirms that Trump leads a movement; he is not a pawn of it.
Biden needs boos from people who represent past COVID policy. After getting them, he needs to be resolute to show he leads America's COVID policy and is not a pawn of anybody.
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