It’s my understanding that Joe Biden isn’t terribly popular. He is with me, though in all truth in a perfect world I’d be happy if he was replaced by someone a lot younger, but given current realities, he is our bulwark against fascism, and, give him credit, he seems to understand that. He’s done better than I thought he would. In particular he has apparently long given up on his campaign prediction that the post-Trump Republicans would have a come to Jesus moment.
The fact that he is not overwhelmingly popular is not surprising. I think he has flaws similar to those I perceived in Ned Lamont. He seems to think that the job of the president is to do the job of being president, and not spending your time telling everyone how great you are. Lamont did a decent job as governor from the day he was elected, but his numbers were not great. I think the COVID crisis was good for him, because it actually got through to people that he had done a good job responding to it. But still, as a self promoter, he wasn’t great, and neither is Biden.
The genius, on the other hand, couldn’t stop bragging about what a terrible great job he was doing, and of course the press dutifully covered his boasts. Perhaps they didn’t endorse them, but they certainly helped spread them. He also had Republican flunkies that continually sang his praises, while Democrats don’t do that sort of thing. Far be it from them to try to influence the narrative.
Lucky for us and for Biden, the probabilities are that the Republicans will be so unpopular by 2024 that he’ll have no problem getting re-elected, though you never know. Right now the Republicans are doing their best, and it is unquestionably their intent, to tank the economy and blame the results on Biden. It might work, unless the Democrats finally learn something about pushing their message.
After I wrote the above I happened on this post at Crooks and Liars. Here’s the relevant quote:
The unemployment rate is now at its lowest since 1969. According to recent GDP data, the U.S. economy grew at an annualized rate of 2.6% in the fourth quarter of 2022. Trump knows this. Democrats are not very good at messaging. If Trump had accomplished that, he would post about it daily while shouting the numbers from the rooftops.
So, someone out there agrees with me.
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