President Joe Biden is a gift for comedians. He speaks using catchphrases, dubbed “bidenisms”, which facilitate imitations in humorous paintings: “Now it’s serious, guys”, “I’m not telling a joke”, “as my father used to say…”, “God love you” (when referring to someone with irony).
The age and visible slowness of someone approaching 80 and living in public since 1972 are exploited not only by comedians, but also cruelly by Republicans.
Biden angers the progressive wing of the Democratic Party by signaling that he will seek reelection when he is 82 in 2024, opening up a flank for a young, energetic and pornographically amoral Trump like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to make an easy comparison of generations.
But few notice that elderly Joe rules on the left of rock star Barack, who every summer releases his supercool playlist, a sort of musical United Nations for Spotify. Unlike Obama, he doesn’t throw the best parties at the White House, where guests like Jay Z and Beyoncé circulate.
The American press spent much of those 18 months highlighting how poorly Biden was doing in the polls, predicting the worst-case scenario in November’s midterm elections, a race that often punishes the occupant of the White House.
But he doesn’t remember that since George Bush Jr., who was briefly approved by 88% in the wake of 9/11, no president has registered approval above 75%. When Obama was on his honeymoon with voters in the first month of his administration, he was approved by 68% of Americans.
How is Uncle Joe’s supposed astral hell? Well, in the last week, he posted the best pass in a year — 44% — not exactly a reason to open champagne. But there are other signs that the president, who was treated like an albatross by Democratic candidates this year, is now winded down for them.
This column spoke with a veteran unelected member of the Democratic Party, who was part of the Bill Clinton administration and maintains dialogue with the current crop of the party in power. If Biden governs on the left, he recalls, it is because they use the cliché “progressive” for policies that are supported by a comfortable majority of Americans, such as regulating gun ownership, health insurance, combating climate change and industrial policy.
The then candidate, in 2020, did himself no favors by suggesting that he had ambitions to be a new Franklin Roosevelt, the sacred monster of generosity in social policies.
But, says the ex-Clintonist, neither Clinton nor Obama did as much as Biden in that first year and a half. It has tamed a double crisis – Covid and the economy –, created more jobs than any predecessor, passed three massive legislations, passed firearms control, and the interlocutor continues to detail a list that does not fit in this space, but affects Americans and allied countries. .
On Tuesday, during a rally, Biden cast a Republican spell on the Trumpist sorcerers, who haven’t stopped ruffling the FBI since the Mar-a-Lago raids, and advocated for more funding in public safety. He spoke directly to the MAGA (Make America Great Again) cult: “Don’t talk about defending cops if you approve of the violence of January 6th.”
Uncle Joe may not be a Roosevelt, but he is perhaps the most underrated old man working the Oval Office. And I’m not making a joke.
