Biden in the House

The President delivers a rare gift: a good day for the PM

The Trudeaus bid their dinner guests farewell. From Adam Scotti’s Instagram.

Each of us comes from somewhere. Joe Biden first walked into the United States Senate in 1973, when Justin Trudeau was two years old. He stayed there for 36 years, and in some ways longer than that, to 2017, because the US Constitution designates the vice president as president of the Senate. The Senate is a hard place to get things done. You learn how to make a deal or you don’t go far. Part of making a deal is attaching value to the votes you already have lined up, and devoting energy to keeping them in your column, even if the colleagues who’ll cast those votes aren’t perfect — Lord, they never are, not close. Counting one’s blessings isn’t a formality in such a place. It’s survival math.

These thoughts occurred as I spent Friday realizing the president’s visit to Ottawa was going well for Justin Trudeau.