Can Washington ever end its political bickering and return to normalcy?

AMERICAN pollsters agree that one of the reasons that Candidate Joe Biden beat former president Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential race was that voters were exhausted after four years of chaos and never-ending political bickering in Washington under the disrupter occupying the White House. They wanted a return to normalcy.

And, indeed, President Biden has pledged to fulfil those public expectations, to overcome the nation's political polarisation and to advance a bipartisan policy agenda, getting the country moving again.

So it's a bit depressing to follow what has been taking place in Washington of late. President Biden has not only failed to get the Republicans to join him in promoting his priorities. He has also found it difficult to bring together the moderate and progressive wings of his party to support his major spending bills.