polarisation in America. Increasingly, Democrats and Republicans do not just hold
different views on, say, gay marriage and tax rates. They inhabit different universes and
increasingly distrust each other.
Two months before the 2020 election, a poll showed that over 40% of Americans of
both parties believed violence would be justified if the other side’s candidate won the
election. Most presidents, including Mr Obama, saw such deep antipathy as damaging,
both to national unity and to their political prospects. At least rhetorically, virtually all
presidents have tried to broaden their appeal once in office.
Mr Trump never did. He exploited and inflamed division, like the reality-television star
he was before entering office, rather than trying to heal it. Small wonder that over 75m
Americans rallied to Mr Biden’s plea for unity. Ordinarily such appeals would be routine
for an American politician. But these were not ordinary times. With Mr Trump
appealing to his base, and the woke left appealing to theirs, the vast American middle
found its tribune in Mr Biden, an ageing career politician who ably met his moment.
Even so, he will be unable to deliver the unity he promised. That is not his fault: nobody
could. Partisanship and division sell. Rush Limbaugh and “The Daily Show” are not
going away just because Mr Trump lost and Mr Biden prefers unity. Social media lets
Americans have their political views constantly confirmed rather than challenged.
Gone are the days of conservative Democrats and liberal Republicans regularly crossing
the aisle. Today political parties are almost wholly aligned along cultural and ideological
fault-lines. Most senators and representatives hold safe seats where they have more to
fear from a more radical primary challenger within their own party than an opposition
candidate.
Even if Mr Biden had won the landslide that the left hoped for, America would have
remained deeply divided; he might just have had an easier time getting legislation
through Congress. Soon after taking office on January 20th, he will urge all Americans to
wear masks; adherence to that suggestion will almost certainly be greater in
Democratic- than Republican-leaning areas. Several cases in the Supreme Court’s
pipeline may severely restrict abortion rights without directly outlawing it. The battles
over those cases will be no less intense just because Mr Biden sits in the White House.
No politician can force Americans to end their country’s culture wars. They must decide
to do that themselves.
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