I appreciate what he's trying to do in addressing the toxic divisiveness of our current politics, and I hope that a speech like this does, in fact, appeal to the nation's better angels. But it's unlikely it will have much effect on Republicans in Congress. And if he is as committed to bi-partisanship as he says he is, he will likely get nothing done. The Republicans will then ridicule him for his ineffectiveness, and then convince the country that it's time to put another, even worse, Republican into the White House.
The GOP play since Newt Gingrich is to adamantly obstruct, to prevent the Dems from getting anything done, and then put all the blame on the Dems for playing partisan politics. Obama in his first term was ridiculous in his persistence to reach out to Republicans, but he got only McConnell's commitment to do everything in his power to make sure Obama would not be re-elected. And the media accepts the narrative that neither side can get along.
Of course, Biden should be open to the possibility that some Republicans, chastened by the insane turn that their party has taken and by, let us hope, the electoral disaster their party will suffer in November, might want to work with him. But until the GOP establishment proves itself repentant and capable of negotiating in good faith, there is no justification to compromise with them if they don't have to, and they won't if they dump the filibuster.
The GOP has rendered itself into a mob personality cult that, if we lived in a sane world, should play no significant role in shaping the American future. If times were saner, the only relevant negotiations should be between the right and left wings of the Democratic party, that is the part of the party that represents the top 15% of the country and the part that represents the bottom 85%. The GOP represents only the top1%, but have convinced the gullible in red states that they are on their side regarding cultural issues, which, in fact, they are not except that their faux populist, astro-turf demagoguery requires it.
So if they do, Joe, sure, offer the GOP fanatics an olive branch, make some gestures, but don't allow yourself to be hamstrung by a naive commitment to bi-partisanship. I fear that Biden will waste too much time pleading with Republicans to cooperate. He needs to play hardball or the opportunity to advance will be lost. The Republicans, given a similar opportunity, would not hesitate to be aggressive in exploiting it.