In imploring a handful of Republican senators who control the fate of Trump’s third nomination in four years to defy the president, Biden again landed squarely on the themes even many Democrats ridiculed as archaic, possibly naive — right until his party rewarded him with the nomination.

So it’s not surprising that Biden skipped over progressive wish list items like court packing, something he said more than a year ago would cause Democrats to “rue that day.” While some Democrats want him to embrace and advocate court reforms more broadly, one official said privately he saw the speech as designed to address the moment, rather than moments that still might come…

A creature of the Senate for more than three decades, Biden has long argued that once Trump is out of the way some old norms will be restored and the two parties might be able to collaborate. But before Sunday, he’d never tested his own ability to persuade — especially his optimism, despite evidence it’s unwarranted — as a presidential nominee in such an explicit way.