美国总统乔·拜登(Joe Biden)周三再次呼吁自己的政党在民主党经历了一个痛苦的选举之夜后，匆忙推进他的立法议程。
当被问及前弗吉尼亚州州长特里·麦考利夫在战场上的惨败时，拜登说:“人们希望我们把事情做好。“他们希望我们把事情做好。这就是为什么我继续非常努力地推动民主党继续前进，并通过我的基础设施法案和我的重建得更好法案。”
当被问及他是否对弗吉尼亚的损失负有任何责任时，拜登表示反对。
“它应该在选举日之前通过，”拜登在谈到他的议程时说。“但我不确定我能否改变那些非常保守的人的数量，以及那些支持特朗普的红区选民的数量。”
民主党议员似乎感受到了压力。周三，一些人表示，通过拜登的立法议程比以往任何时候都更加紧迫，他们指出，缺乏可交付的成果可能会在周二激怒选民。
几个月来，民主党人在拜登的社会支出计划和一项单独的大规模两党基础设施法案的前进道路上陷入瘫痪。参议员们说，麦考利夫的落选和新泽西州州长竞选中的微弱优势是选民对这种不作为的回应。
“民主党让特里失望了，”弗吉尼亚州民主党人蒂姆·凯恩周三说。“如果我们在10月份完成了我们几乎肯定会在本月底完成的基础设施和和解法案，这将对他非常有帮助，因为这将意味着民主党人是实干家，民主党人在郊区社区交付人们关心的东西。”
面对共和党人对拜登社会支出议程的一致反对，民主党人几个月来一直在努力寻找摆脱复杂政治迷宫的方法。今年早些时候，领导层将一个1万亿美元的基础设施一揽子计划与一个单独的社会支出一揽子计划捆绑在一起，该计划包括对道路、桥梁、水路和宽带的资助，该计划尚未起草。他们发誓一个没有另一个就不会进步。
参议院在8月份通过了1万亿美元的基础设施一揽子计划，但仍在就社会支出一揽子计划进行谈判。因此，众议院尚未对这两项法案进行投票。它最早可能在本周就这两个方案进行投票，但为时已晚，无法影响周二的选举结果。
在基础设施一揽子计划上的无所作为，让帮助谈判该法案的温和派民主党人，如弗吉尼亚州民主党人马克·华纳(Mark Warner)束手无策。华纳表示，这两个方案都迫切需要通过，但他指出，基础设施方案本可以为麦考利夫带来急需的胜利。
华纳说:“只有在华盛顿，人们才会认为对基础设施进行一代人一次的投资，阻止你们的总统签署该法案成为法律，这是一个明智的策略，这在某种程度上是一个好策略。“这不仅仅是法案的实质，而是要展示你能够以影响人们生活的方式进行治理。”
温和派参议员乔·曼钦几周来一直要求众议院就基础设施法案进行投票。曼钦周三表示，麦考利夫的失败只是时间到了的另一个迹象。
曼钦说:“众议院需要真正通过基础设施法案。这已经被证明了。这才是他们真正想要的。"
但曼钦可能是民主党寻求通过“重建得更好”的最不可逾越的障碍，因为他反对总统框架中的几项条款，包括扩大医疗保险和带薪探亲假。
曼钦周三重申了对成本和通胀的担忧，共和党人成功地利用了这一点来反对拜登的议程。但民主党人周三表示，他们的损失是因为缺乏可交付成果，而不是拒绝整体计划。
当被问及选民是否在抵制进步政策时，伊利诺伊州的民主党党鞭迪克·德宾表示，他不这么认为。
当它最终完成时，杜宾说，他相信“我认为，美国将以积极的方式接受它。”
康涅狄格州参议员理查德·布卢门撒尔(Richard Blumenthal)将周二的损失诊断为“未能交付”
“国会必须兑现承诺，”布卢门撒尔说。“窗户正在关闭。我们没时间了。我们需要完成它。”
民主党人担心，除非他们能在拜登的政策上取得重大进展，否则弗吉尼亚州的竞选可能会成为2022年中期选举的风向标。
华纳周三表示:“我担心的不仅仅是弗吉尼亚州，我担心的是全国各地。“我们必须表明，我们能够以务实的方式交付成果，影响人们的生活。”
“没时间了，”杜宾说。“对我们的这一警告来得足够早，让我们有所行动，现在我们必须做出回应。”
如果有人怀疑他想从国会山的民主党人那里得到什么，拜登周三离开舞台时转过身，直接下令:“把它拿到我的桌子上。”
'People want us to get things done,' Biden says in response to Tuesday's election losses
President Joe Biden on Wednesday reiterated calls for his own party to move hastily on his legislative agenda following a punishing election night for Democrats.
"People want us to get things done," Biden said when asked about former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe's upset loss in the battleground. "They want us to get things done. And that's why I'm continuing to push very hard for the Democratic Party to move along and pass my infrastructure bill and my Build Back Better bill."
When asked if he bore any of the blame for the loss in Virginia, Biden demurred.
"It should have passed before Election Day," Biden said of his agenda. "But I'm not sure that I would be able to have changed the number of very conservative folks who turned out and the red districts who were Trump voters."
Democratic lawmakers appear to be feeling the pressure. On Wednesday, some said it was more urgent than ever to pass Biden's legislative agenda, pointing to a lack of deliverables they say may have soured voters on Tuesday.
Democrats have been paralyzed on a path forward for Biden's social spending plan and a separate massive bipartisan infrastructure bill for months. Senators say McAuliffe's loss and the razor-thin margin in New Jersey's gubernatorial race are voter responses to that inaction.
"Democrats let Terry down," Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine said Wednesday. "If we had done the infrastructure and reconciliation bills in October that we will almost certainly do by the end of the month, it would have been extremely helpful to him because it would have meant that Democrats are doers, Democrats deliver things that people care about in suburban communities."
Democrats have struggled for months to find their way out of a complex political maze they set for themselves in the face of unified Republican opposition to Biden's social spending agenda. Earlier this year, leadership tied a $1 trillion infrastructure package that includes funding for roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, to a separate social spending package that was yet to be drafted. They vowed one would not progress without the other.
The Senate passed the $1 trillion infrastructure package in August, but it is still negotiating over the social spending package. The House has not yet held a vote on either bill as a result. It may finally vote on both packages as early as this week -- too late to impact Tuesday's election results.
Inaction on the infrastructure package has left moderate Democrats who helped negotiate the bill, like Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, wringing their hands. Warner said both packages urgently need to be passed, but he noted that the infrastructure package could have provided McAuliffe a much-needed win.
"Only in Washington could people think that it is a smart strategy to take a once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure and prevent your president from signing that bill into law and that's somehow a good strategy," Warner said. "It's not just about the substance of the bill, it's about showing that you can govern in a way that affects people's lives."
Moderate Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., has been demanding a House vote on the infrastructure bill for weeks. McAuliffe's loss is just another sign that it's time, Manchin said Wednesday.
"The House needs to really truly pass the infrastructure bill," Manchin said. That's something that's proven. That's what they really want."
But Manchin is perhaps the most insurmountable obstacle in the Democratic quest to pass "Build Back Better" because of his opposition to several provisions in the president's framework, including an expansion of Medicare and paid family leave.
Manchin reiterated Wednesday concerns about cost and inflation, the same point Republicans successfully used to campaign against Biden's agenda. But Democrats Wednesday said their losses were about a lack of deliverables, not a rejection of the overall plan.
Asked whether voters were pushing back on progressive policies, Democratic Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said he didn't believe so.
When it's finally done, Durbin said he believes "America will receive it, I think, in a positive way."
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., diagnosed Tuesday's losses as "failure to deliver."
"Congress has to deliver," Blumenthal said. "The window is closing. We have no more time. We need to get it done."
Democrats fear that unless they can make significant movement on Biden's policy, the Virginia race could prove to be a bellwether for the 2022 midterms.
"I'm worried not just in Virginia, I'm worried across the country," Warner said Wednesday. "We've got to show that we can deliver in a pragmatic way that affects people's lives."
"There's no time left," Durbin said. "This warning to us came early enough for us to do something about it, and now we have to respond."
And if there was any room for doubt about what he wants from Democrats on Capitol Hill, Biden turned as he exited the stage Wednesday, giving a direct order: "Get it to my desk."
