Many, many of us are stressed individually. The country is stressed.

A pandemic has a way of doing that. Doubly so when accompanied by an economic collapse affecting countless among us.

But that pervasive stress was present well before COVID entered the lexicon and before all but a few Americans knew the first thing about Wuhan, China.

Let’s be honest. The national tension level has been turned to high, often to boiling, for at least the past four years. We categorize politicians as Democrats or Republicans; liberals or conservatives; insiders or outsiders. There is another demarcation as well as I long ago learned to divide them as “cold” or “hot”.

This has nothing to do with ideology and everything to do with demeanor and affect. Barack Obama was the ultimate cool cat. Very little ruffled him; his voice and presence were preternaturally calming. A good deal of the country disagreed with him, sometimes vehemently so. But no serious-minded observer thought that Obama awoke every morning with the intention of inciting. In fact, many of his political allies wished him to be more combative.

Donald Trump is Obama’s polar opposite. He lives to inflame. How else do you interpret the bulk of his tweets, just for starters? His manner and personality radiate heat. The nation was deeply split well before Trump’s escalator ride. But his signature contribution, such as it is, has been to throw volumes of gasoline on the fire and turn off all sources of water.

Now enter Joe Biden. If polling is at all reliable and he is to take the oath three months from now, what will be his contribution to the national psyche? True to form, Trump has assigned him the nickname, Sleepy Joe. It is certainly not meant as a compliment. But what if a bit of relaxation and release, even slumber, is what the country craves?

Contemplating a Biden Presidency, it will be no cure-all for our tribal divide. But perhaps, just perhaps, it will dial down the decibel level a few notches. It might even provide many among us with an extra sleep cycle now and then.

If that is to occur, it will not be because Biden somehow papers over the issues that cleave the country. Contrary to some perceptions, moderation is not about some bland, milquetoast, split-the-difference mush. As in a number of earlier eras, America is split ideologically with plenty of issues over which to argue, many of them important and some not so much.

What our union desperately needs is not some vapid, illusory consensus but a more moderate and civil tone, some commonly-held and accepted facts, a renewed regard for other viewpoints, an occasional respite from all-encompassing politics, and a recognition that existential, all-or-nothing battles day-in and day-out are neither healthy or sustainable.

Put bluntly, our political process has become abnormal. What America calls for, and what we can only pray that a late-in-life Biden might offer and lead, is a restoration of something approaching normal political debate.

There is no end to that list of critical issues requiring discussion, even reasoned argument.

What is the appropriate, necessary scope of American military resources in the current world order? How do we engage China while using our limited leverage to counter its uber-totalitarian instincts? What is the role of human rights in our foreign policy? Three-quarters of a century after the end of World War II, what is our role in Europe? How do we counter the menace of Vladimir Putin?

How do we respond to the ever-more-clear threat of climate change without unilaterally crippling our economy? And while recognizing that global warming is, by definition, a global issue requiring a global response? How and at what pace is it practical to move away from a reliance on fossil fuels?

What is a fair and suitable level of taxation? How should that tax burden be distributed? How do we reverse the growing, multi-decade trend of wealth disparity without destroying individual initiative?

How does the country live within its means? Why do we continually run a humongous deficit even in good times? What burden does our national debt place on younger generations? (Oh, never mind. Both parties long ago showed their lack of serious intent in all such regards.)

How do we blend effective policing and law enforcement with basic humanity? What can we do for those left behind in an increasingly technological economy? How do we respond to continuing racial injustice while appreciating the distance we have come and avoiding endless years of this ongoing stain and attendant strife?

Is our commitment to core tenets of free speech an enduring one? What tolerance do we owe to those with whom we disagree?

How do we improve and cleanse our politics? How do we rebuild our decaying physical infrastructure? What do we do about an education system that produces glaringly unequal outcomes and too often magnifies the racial and class divide? How do we repair too many rotted, under-performing American institutions?

All that is only scratching the surface. And does not include the myriad questions of how we more effectively respond to this pandemic, how we mitigate its impacts and how we come out the other side.

Even in these quite abnormal times, some modicum of normal political discussion would be itself healing. For many, it would be a tonic to a deep, withering exhaustion.

America is in critical need of a dose of elusive, destressing, detoxifying calm. Close your eyes. Breathe in deeply. Fully. Now breathe out slowly. Completely. And repeat.