Biden is failing, but not because he isn't "left" enough

As The Washington Post’s Dana Milbank points out, “Biden has been saying—heatedly and repeatedly—exactly that which he is accused of avoiding.”

Biden also wants to nuke the filibuster (at least for voting rights) and to codify abortion rights on a federal level. So he’s willing to bend on norms and institutions.

You can argue that he’s not a good or convincing fighter, or that he doesn’t want to burn as many norms or institutions down as you might prefer. However, this is a guy who cavalierly goes around calling things “Jim Crow 2.0.” This is a guy who told African-Americans that Mitt Romney (!) wants to put them “back in chains.” He’s no shrinking violet.

On the contrary, it’s more likely that Biden’s fundamental mistake was trying to be too progressive and transformative—trying to be FDR and LBJ—despite running as a restorer of norms who would work across the aisle.