This was published 3 years ago
Opinion
Don't expect Joe Biden to use Twitter
By Nick Allen
Joe Biden will enter the White House as the least scrutinised president in modern US history.
Long American election campaigns usually give the public the chance to learn every detail about the candidates' agendas, and see them regularly bombarded with tricky questions.
Joe Biden speaking on November 4.Credit: AP
But, even before the pandemic, Biden conducted only very sparse interviews or press conferences and appeared only at small events. When the coronavirus hit, he initially remained cloistered in his home in Wilmington, Delaware.
It meant that, unlike Donald Trump, Biden has rarely been required to defend or explain policies that could make him the most radical Democrat president since Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Biden has put forward a transformative agenda on climate change, energy and healthcare.
It includes a $US2 trillion ($3tn) plan to make the US carbon neutral by 2050, while "transitioning away from the oil industry".
He also wants to expand Obamacare with a "public option" allowing people to choose a government-subsidised system over private health insurance.
Biden wants to reverse Trump's tax cuts, raising corporation tax, and doubling the minimum wage to $US15 ($25) an hour.
According to independent analysis, Biden has proposed $US5.4 trillion ($8tn) in new spending over the next 10 years, which is significantly more than Hillary Clinton would have done.
The national debt is expected to increase by $US2.5 trillion ($3.5tn) in Biden's first term.
He has not embraced more radical Democrat ideas like "defunding the police" or Bernie Sanders' plan for universal government-funded healthcare, However, Sanders, who Biden beat for the Democrat nomination, has praised Biden's agenda. Sanders has said that "if implemented, it would make Biden the most progressive president since FDR".
How much of it Biden can get done will be ultimately determined by the make-up of the Senate, which still hangs in the balance, currently tied between both major parties.
If Republicans hold sway, they will have the power to block some of Biden's spending and Cabinet picks, dampening the prospect of Elizabeth Warren becoming treasury secretary.
Republicans have expressed concerns that Biden will "lurch Left" in response to pressure from Nancy Pelosi, the Democrat Speaker in the House of Representatives.
But Biden has a long personal history of compromising with, and developing friendships with Republicans during decades as a senator. Biden himself has described how he worked with segregationist southern senators in the seventies to get things done. "Reaching across the aisle" was a feature of his time as a senator and vice president.
When Trump sought to portray him as soft on looters, Biden told Americans: "You know me. You know my heart. Ask yourself: Do I look to you like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters? Really?"
The most immediate difference with Biden in the Oval Office would be one of tone. Biden has pledged that he will not be tweeting at all hours, Indeed, he probably will not tweet much at all.
He has promised a return to the norms of government and international diplomacy, and he is unlikely to dominate the daily news cycle in the way Trump did.
The administrative apparatus of government, often bypassed by Trump, will return. America's allies will not be blindsided in the same way they sometimes were by sudden announcements from Trump.
Biden is similar to Trump in that he values personal relationships, he is fond of talking at length, and will gravitate towards leaders with whom he has personal chemistry.
The Telegraph, London