Channeling FDR

摘要

IN LATE APRIL, AS COVID-19 PANICKED the nation and all but paralyzed his campaign, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., huddled-virtually, of course-with his team of economic advisers. Being stuck running for the presidency from the basement of his home in Wilmington, Delaware, had given the former vice president a lot of time to think, he told them, and he wanted bigger ideas. Go forth, he urged his financial brain trust, and bring back the boldest, most ambitious proposals they'd ever dreamed of to reshape the U.S. economy, with an eye toward making it more fair for all Americans and less easily unhinged by a future crisis like the coronavirus pandemic. Should he unseat Donald Trump in November's election, the challenge before him would be at least on par with what Franklin Delano Roosevelt contended with when he came to power in 1933. Biden wanted FDR-sized solutions. At least a few participants on the call hung up in shock and awe. "Did that really happen?" one texted in messages shown to Newsweek. "Yep. Sleepy Joe is awake," the recipient replied, invoking a mocking nickname of Trump's-one that feels so absurd to those who know the workaholic Biden that it's become a standing joke among campaign insiders.