Yet the bulk of the credit for uniting both NATO and the American public in support of Ukraine has gone not to Biden’s leadership but to Putin’s aggression. “Remarkably what he’s been able to do is unify the vast majority of us in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans alike,” Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia said of the Russian president on Sunday during a joint appearance on Meet the Press with Senator Rob Portman, an Ohio Republican.

So far, support for Biden’s economic-but-not-military response to the Russian invasion has not translated into approval of the president’s handling of the crisis or trust in his leadership. A few polls have found his ratings on Ukraine even lower than his lackluster overall standing with voters, which is now barely more than 40 percent. Cole, a partisan if congenial Republican, is no cheerleader for the president. But he noted that the crisis is still in its early stages and said Biden has a chance to seize the rare gift of unity Putin has bestowed to his own political advantage. “I think there’s an opportunity here to lead globally and nationally and to bring us together,” Cole said. “The president has the high moral ground. He’s on the right side of the issue.”