Willie Brown: Biden has few reasons to celebrate

Willie Brown/San Francisco Chronicle

I hope Joe Biden is enjoying his victory over President Trump, because he is about to walk into a nightmare.

Biden has the White House, barring a legal Hail Mary from Trump. Kamala Harris will be vice president, and it seems Nancy Pelosi will still be House speaker. But that’s it.

There’s a good chance Republicans will have a narrow Senate majority, and that keeps Mitch McConnell in the driver’s seat. And believe me, he will hit the brakes on every piece of legislation that Biden and Pelosi try to move, just as he and the rest of the Republicans did during President Barack Obama’s second term.

McConnell is not the type of politician to compromise or seek peace. He wouldn’t even compromise with Donald Trump.

And he punishes people who go against him.

It will be gridlock.

Biden also faces a potential split among Democrats, with progressives eager to move on their agenda and moderates reading the election results as indicative of a much redder landscape than they expected.

It’s not a pretty picture.

The biggest thing Biden has going for him: He’s almost surely a one-term president, not because he’d be defeated for re-election but because he’ll be 81 during a 2024 campaign and probably won’t run.

That gives him the freedom to forget about scoring points for himself and concentrate on what will actually help the country.

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