Biden faces no easy options on Ukraine — and Dems fret he could look weak

“There’s a lot to lose politically, but there’s not a lot to gain,” said Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster and strategist. “I think the administration is doing a great job with this, but the Russians are the ones who are going to decide in the end whether to invade or not. If they decide not to invade, there are not going to be ticker tape parades for Joe Biden across America, and if they do decide to invade, people are going to wonder if the administration handled it correctly.”…

“Clearly an objective of Putin is to make the Biden administration look weak, especially in the wake of the Afghan withdrawal,” retired admiral James Stavridis, a former supreme allied commander of NATO, said in response to emailed questions. “Creating division here in the U.S. and influencing American elections is part of his calculus. For Team Biden, a strong, resolute, and successful response to Putin is an important outcome of the Ukraine crisis.”…

As Bremmer noted, “I can’t remember the last time there was a major foreign policy issue where the Democrats and Republicans actually are so aligned on the actual policy.”

But because Trump’s base remains aggrieved by Democrats’ attacks on Trump over Russia, and because Republicans generally are eager to find fault with the Biden administration, partisan politics will roil the debate nevertheless, he added.