WASHINGTON — Let me be the first liberal to confess. Avuncular President Joe Biden is the president we expected young, cool former President Barack Obama to be.

Huge steps forward are happening here. The Senate just passed a massive $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill for roads, bridges, rail and broadband. In a small miracle, it's bipartisan, with Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky voting for a bill Biden will soon sign with fanfare.

As a senator who served 35 years with deep connections to Congress, Biden urged just such a bipartisan deal when he took office six or seven months ago. Many said "Joe" was dreaming of the old days.

Few remember when the Senate worked together for the common good, building out from 20 centrists. Lawmakers on the floor were bonded in a rare weekend session, crossing party lines. They looked more alive.

The tortoiselike Senate is coming out of its shell.

But wait, there's more sea change to come.

Next up: a record-smashing budget bill that addresses the climate crisis and child care, aka infrastructure for women. Wealthy Americans who make more than $400,000 yearly would pay higher taxes.

"Transformative," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, declared.

With the trifecta of the White House, the Senate and the House of Representatives, Biden has energized Democratic leaders to think big and stick together — so far.

At 78, Biden lost a lot of ego along the way. He seems focused like a laser on what's best for the country, not whether he runs again.

By contrast, the Affordable Care Act, or "Obamacare," a signature victory, passed more than a year after Obama took office, with no Republican votes. Obama sought bipartisanship often, but rarely achieved it. On health-care reform, he surrendered a public option — a fight he might have won if he tried.

Consider: Biden is seriously seeking a voting rights bill to repair damage done by the Supreme Court to minority rights in 2013.

Second, the new commander in chief ended the Afghanistan War with no ado, a promise Obama made with passion but did not keep.

"Don't let (the generals) jam you," Biden advised Obama, when he was vice president.

Third, Biden is truly galvanized on the climate front, calling for a rapid switch to electric cars. Experts like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., fault the "Obama lost years" for the burning crisis, with modest gains in reducing fossil fuels and carbon emissions.

Always a genial colleague, the moderate Biden was well-liked in the Senate, but not a standout.

Obama, on the other hand, arrived as a freshman Senate star in 2005 and soon started running for president. The gifted orator did not mark time in the institution's clubby cloakrooms, hearing old warhorse stories.

Liberals like me saw a prince of hope, striking the dark land like lightning. Once in the Oval Office, however, he governed differently than the visionary voice we heard on the campaign trail.

Obama was cerebral and cautious. He appointed mostly Ivy Leaguers and kept to his own company.

Time and again, Obama fell short dealing with Congress. In the panic of the Great Recession, Obama let Republicans talk him down to a stimulus package of only $850 billion. Too little for an economy dashed on the rocks. He never engaged friends nor enemies (notably McConnell.) In politics, there are times you go toe-to-toe.

The 44th president was a solo artist.

Case in point: singing "Amazing Grace" at the funeral of nine Black churchgoers murdered in a South Carolina racial hate crime. A meaningful moment.

But the first Black president never signed any bills that lifted the plight of race in America.

The 60th birthday bash on Martha's Vineyard was vintage Obama: grand plans that got downsized, leaving a lot of "folks" out.

Echoing American greats, Biden faced a "crisis presidency" on three fronts his first day: medical, economic and political. The Jan. 6 mob attack hung heavy.

Only two other presidents ever confronted more discontent and schism: Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Like them, Biden is a man of the people. Unlike them, his presidential prose is prosaic. ("Wash your hands with hot water.")

Obama talked the talk. Biden walks the walk. Head versus heart.

Jamie Stiehm may be reached at JamieStiehm.com. To read her weekly column and find out more about Creators Syndicate columnists and cartoonists, please visit creators.com.

Photo credit: janeb13 at Pixabay