Budowsky: What Biden, Sununu and, yes, even McCarthy understand about 2024

President Joe Biden, Gov. Chris Sununu (R-N.H.) and possibly House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) understand that the largest single political constituency in America includes those who suffer intense fatigue from the politics of anger, rage, hatred and division. 

 At some point during the 2024 campaign, there will be a move among thoughtful Republicans to draft Sununu to join the race for president. He is the most serious and eloquent opponent of the dark impulses of some Republicans who are causing the intense fatigue across the political landscape. 

 Last week America came perilously close to defaulting on its debt, nearly destroying the credit rating of the full faith and credit of our country and causing a deep worldwide recession. 

 There were two reasons this historic catastrophe did not happen. The first was President Biden. The second was Speaker McCarthy. They both deserve and will receive historic acclaim for achieving the landmark bipartisan agreement, which includes important provisions that many on both sides did not favor. 

 For Biden, it represented the latest achievement of a president who has undeniably achieved great things, several through the types of bipartisan moves he has long advocated. 

 For McCarthy, this was an impressive achievement, not least because it was out of character and very challenging under his political circumstances.  

The compromise between Biden and McCarthy reminded me of President Reagan and Speaker Tip O’Neill (D-Mass.), whose cooperation I witnessed as a young staffer working for the House Democratic leadership. Can it continue during future crises? One can hope.  

Speaking of crises, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy is acting like a modern-day Winston Churchill and President Biden like a modern-day Franklin Roosevelt as they battle the criminal Russian invasion of Ukraine by a Russian dictator accused of war crimes.  

 By contrast, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, initially dismissing the criminal invasion as a mere “territorial dispute,” is giving ludicrous speeches that make him sound like a high school Churchill imitator — battling wokeism on the beaches, on the landing grounds, etc.  

 In one of the most consequential and underestimated developments of the 2024 campaign, Sununu has emerged as the most cogent and serious voice in the GOP. 

 As Sununu and many Democrats and astute commentators often note, Americans’ widespread fatigue against these GOP trends has created a party of losers — and it will remain a party of losers unless they change. 

 Sununu, Biden and countless others fully understand that Americans want unity, not division. They want decency, not anger. They want patriotic idealism, not partisan rage. They want Americans united and treated like countrymen and women — not enemies by Trump, Trump imitators, sycophants or so-called woke warriors. 

 Sununu fully understands and best expresses the great truth that something has gone terribly wrong with the Republican Party today. None of the GOP candidates have come close to Sununu in honestly and directly expressing what plagues the GOP today. 

 Meanwhile, Biden will continue building on his historically impressive record of achievement as president, seeking bipartisanship whenever possible.  

 Hopefully McCarthy will continue to grow into his job as Speaker. And if he does, Democrats should pledge to oppose the radical right’s efforts to remove him.

Budowsky served as an aide to former Sen. Lloyd Bentsen (D-Texas) and former Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), who was chief deputy majority whip of the House of Representatives.