“And where do we go from here? Which is the way that’s clear?”

These questions, posed by David Essex in his 1973 homage to early rock ’n’ roll, “Rock On,” fairly describe the dilemma facing the Biden-Harris administration today.

Joe and Kamala are faced with multiple crises. In fact, they have a crisis of crises. COVID-19, multiple mutations of the original virus, an economy in need of a restart, a growing threat from an increasingly radicalized and alienated right wing, significant unemployment, a fraying safety net, criminal law and education reform, immigration inequities, global warming – any one of these issues, as well as others, could keep an administration gainfully occupied for an entire four-year term.

They do not have the luxury of that much time.

The Democrats currently enjoy razor thin majorities in the House and Senate. These majorities are set to be reshuffled in the 2022 mid-term elections. Historically, mid-terms have not been kind to the party in control of the White House. An impatient public often suffers a case of buyer’s remorse when a new administration has not, in 24 months, rectified that which has festered for 24 years – or longer.

Which brings things back to the original questions. Where do we go from here? Which is the way that’s clear?

Given President Biden’s life-long preference for reaching consensus, one might think he would consider reaching accommodation with the Republican caucuses an attractive alternative to constant interparty squabbling. It worked for Lincoln with his cabinet of rivals. It worked for Churchill with a war cabinet that subordinated Tory/Labor rivalries to the more important priority of defeating a tyrant bent on world domination.

As tempting as this strategy may be, there is one key component that is missing today. The parties must be willing, in good faith, to set aside conflicting partisan positions for the greater good of the country.

Joe and Kamala would be wise to remember 2009, the Lost Year of the Obama Administration.

The critical first 12 months of that administration were spent in an attempt to cajole Republicans in the House and Senate to find bipartisan responses to national problems of the day.

The attempt failed.

In the end, the administration had to do things on their own, or not do them at all.

Mitch McConnell let the cat out of the bag when he admitted his top priority, above all else, was to assure that Barack Obama was a one-term president. House leadership sang out of the same hymnal.

While Obama did succeed in earning a second term, the Republican obstructionism succeeded in denying much of Obama’s agenda. After a disastrous 2010 mid-term that saw Republicans take over the leadership of the House and Senate, Obama was reduced to taking what he could get, not what he thought the country needed.

Things have not changed.

Three weeks after Donald Trump gave approval to an insurrection that had a mob howling for the blood of congressional leaders of both parties, Kevin McCarthy, now the ranking Republican in the House, was in Florida. Smiling photo ops and “cordial” statements were the result of his making nice with a man who would have seen McCarthy’s injury or death as acceptable collateral damage in a plot to disenfranchise millions of voters if that were what it took to hold on to power.

Mitch McConnell is once again channeling his efforts into returning a Republican majority to the Senate in the 2022 elections, paving the way McConnell is channeling his efforts towards Republicans regaining control of the senate in 2222 setting the stage for his return to power as majority leader in 2023 – and likely a replay of two more years of obstinate obstructionism.

Sad to say, it appears the Republicans in Congress have as their prime directive the acquisition and maintenance of power for power’s sake. If they have principles, they have demonstrated a willingness to abandon them whenever politically expedient to do so.

Where do we go from here? Which is the way that’s clear?

With no reliable partners on the other side of the aisle, Joe, Kamala, Nancy, and Chuck would be well advised to grab the initiative and run with it until the voters tell them to stop.

If the odd Republican wants to come along, they are more than welcome.

If successful, Biden-Harris will advance their vision of a country with, among other goals, a victory over the pandemic; greater financial and social equity for its people; greater access to a good education, good medical care, and good jobs; movement toward an improving environment; criminal justice and immigration systems that promise fairness and security, and a return to leadership on the world stage.

If they fail, at least they will have tried and will not be left to wonder what might have been had they not waited to see if the Republican leopard would eventually change its spots.

That is the way that is clear, and a persuasive argument can be made that this is where we should go from here.