Joe Biden should prepare for gridlock

The Democratic Party was anticipating a blue wave this fall, a victory of such magnitude that Republicans would be spending the next two years fighting amongst themselves rather than controlling the purse strings. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrat in the House of Representatives, was so confident of this blue wave scenario that she sent a memo to her Democratic colleagues outlining a list of bold policy proposals that unified Democratic government in Washington could achieve in the first several months. At the top of that list: a new coronavirus relief package and defending – and building on – the Affordable Care Act.

Pelosi, however, got ahead of her skis. Democrats may very well win the presidency – as of writing, Joe Biden is closing the gap in Georgia and Pennsylvania and holding on to his vote lead in Arizona. But Democrats underperformed in Senate races. Assuming Biden wins the presidency, Democrats needed to flip three seats to control the upper chamber for the first time in six years.