Francis Wilkinson, Columnist

The Paradoxical Potential of a Biden Presidency

A 77-year-old moderate could become champion of young, progressive America.

October 18, 2020 at 12:00 PM UTC

Francis Wilkinson is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering US politics and policy. Previously, he was executive editor for the Week and a writer for Rolling Stone.

The sky’s the limit.
Photographer: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP

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If Joe Biden enters the White House on the afternoon of Jan. 20, there is reason to expect that intraparty conflicts will come racing to the fore: between the Democratic left and Democratic moderates; between multicultural, debt-laden youth and Whiter, more affluent, suburbanites; between the alternate Sanders/AOC ticket and the actual Biden/Harris ticket.

It’s also possible that Biden might succeed in having an awful lot of his political cake and eating it, too.