On Monday afternoon, I clicked on Google News to see what was happening. I was looking for good news. Something other than news of a new school shooting, bickering on Capitol Hill, forest fires in California, or an uptick in COVID-19 deaths. Instead, the top news was all about President Biden. Well, not all of it directly about the president, but about the looming demise of the Biden Presidency.
The lead story, from Fox News, was that veteran journalist Al Hunt, questioned Biden’s competency. Another story, from Politico, explained how the White House blamed the president’s strikingly low approval ratings on the pandemic. Another story referenced the “Biden-Harris Train-Wreck.”
Biden is in trouble. And, so far, he and his team don’t seem to know what to do to right the ship. To the contrary, on two of the biggest challenges that the president faced in his first eight months, he is 0-2. He fumbled the Afghanistan exit and failed to address the crisis at the border. If you add to that the in-fighting between progressives and moderates within his own party, two words come to mind—failed leadership.
It’s OK, I think, to worry about the Biden presidency and still be glad he is in the White House. Biden is heading for a presidency that looks more like Jimmy Carter’s than FDR’s, but he did not try to foment an insurrection. And the word “Pinocchio” has largely disappeared from newspapers. I give credit to Biden for all that and more, but I expected more from him. I continue to wait for him to unify and inspire the country.
In reviewing Biden’s record to date, fairness requires that we keep the challenges he faces in mind. Biden is not to blame for the “delta variant” or for the mischief that Trump and most Republicans on Capitol Hill are causing. It’s hard to get anything done in Washington when the opposing party makes the failure of your presidency its top priority. Biden also cannot be blamed for Xi Jinping threatening Taiwan or for Putin remilitarizing Russia.
If you give Biden the benefit of the doubt, you can say that he has been an unlucky president. That doesn’t generate much sympathy from me. Lincoln, FDR, Hoover, and many other presidents have also inherited major crises or had their presidencies hijacked by wars, natural disasters, or, as one friend once told me in the case of Jimmy Carter, by “malaise.” (I choked on that one.)
So, what to make of Biden? Given that Mr. My Pillow’s prediction of Trump returning to office in August proved wrong, we are stuck with Biden for another three plus years. Does that mean that the next 39 months must look like the last eight months? I don’t think so.
Biden can step up his game with a reset. Here is my advice.
Stop finding excuses. Instead of lamenting how bad the pandemic is and how evil Trump is, start taking some dramatic actions. The top priority should be to do more on COVID-19. This means toughening vaccine requirements, expediting the availability of booster shots, and doing more to get things back to normal. Biden has taken steps in this direction. He needs to take more, quickly.
Develop and implement a humane, fair plan at the border. You cannot blame the current crisis at the border or the inhumane treatment of migrants on Trump. (Remember those videos of the border agents on horses keeping migrants from crossing the border?) Get the resources you need to process legal immigrants and have the courage to tell would-be illegal migrants that the U.S. will not tolerate uncontrolled illegal border crossings.
Start worrying about the possibility of a recession. This means rethinking the $3.5 trillion “human infrastructure bill” to reduce the risk of triggering more inflation. My suggestion would be to break it down into several focused bills. Securing Republican support for projects addressing climate change, better education, and improved access to healthcare is possible given the strong public support for these initiatives. My advice to Biden is to prioritize.
Discipline your own party. Bernie Sanders, AOC, and a host of other progressives have demonstrated their willingness to throw Biden and even Speaker Pelosi under the bus. It’s time for Biden to take control of his own party. If he doesn’t, the impasse of the last five months will continue.
Start planning for the next foreign crisis. Do we know what Biden will do if the Chinese attempt to “unify” Taiwan with China? I don’t. I hope detailed planning is taking place now on how to respond if the next wave of Chinese bombers heading for Taiwan is not a military exercise.
Have a serious chat with Vice President Harris. Fears that Harris wasn’t prepared to serve as VP are proving well-founded. Harris has made several gaffes, seems AWOL on her assignment to address the border crisis, and is getting lampooned in the press. All this would not be a huge problem if Biden were not 78 years old in the first year of his presidency. Biden needs to sit down with Harris and get her on the right track.
All the above will not necessarily save the Biden presidency but could end several consecutive months of declining approval ratings. I hope that happens.
Donald Trump, despite the hopes of many of us that he would fade into the sunset or otherwise go somewhere where the sun doesn’t shine, waits in the wings. Democrats have less than a year to sufficiently turn things around to have a chance at holding their slim House and Senate majorities. They have a little more than two years to have a chance to retain the presidency in 2024. It’s time for them to move to a higher gear. Our Democracy may depend on their doing so.
J.E. Dean of Oxford is a retired attorney and public affairs consultant writing on politics, government, birds, and occasionally goldendoodles.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Mr. Dean, Very interesting and surprising submission today. I have to praise your willingness to consider the possibility that “Orange Man” is not solely responsible for our nation’s ills.
You have some very sound suggestions for moving forward. Thank you.
There is one glitch, however. From what I have observed, it does not seem to me that Joe Biden(and his administration) possess the skills to solve problems and challenges. They seem quite capable of creating problems, but I just don’t see it in their nature to improve anything. In addition, President Biden does not strike me as especially interested in these matters.
I appreciate your thoughts, suggestions and concern.
Be well-Steve
John Dean says
Steve: Thanks for reading the piece. As you might guess, I hope you are wrong about Biden and his administration not having the skills to solve problems and challenges. I am hoping they do better going forward.
In any case, I appreciate your reading the piece and commenting.
Stephen Schaare says
Thank you Mr. Dean, I hope I am wrong too. Steve
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Mr. Dean, Just remembered an old adage that may be sage advice to the Biden administration. ” If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Catherine Bogucki says
I’ll vote for you as President! I am a conservative who sits on the fence. I don’t want Donald Trump for President either, But Biden is worse. Too much government spending, it scares me. Buy American, secure our borders. I understand immigrants want to live the American dream as my ancestors did. But their Is a right way! I have worked 51 years, paid my bills( at times doing without) at 65 I’m scared.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Catherine, Thank you for the kind words. Biden is going back to the “remain in Mexico while being processed ”
Hope springs eternal.
Bob Parker says
Interesting commentary. While the Biden administration has not yet delivered on many of their goals, and the poor messaging from the WH and Dem Congressional leadership has been poor, you seem to downplay the role 4yrs of trump in the WH plays on some of the issues. Our economy would likely be better if vaccines were supported by trump and the GOP office holders in general. The chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan could have been better but was essentially preordained by trump’s decision to negotiate with the Taliban w/o including the Afghan gov’t and by having “yes men” in the DOD,State Dept, Pentagon and nixing input from our Intel community. The Boarder was unmanageable before Biden and any meaningful change was hamstrung by policies put in place via executive order by trump; in my opinion both administrations share in this ongoing travesty. Congress shares in the lack of progress in policies that could address our economy and immigration. While the Progressive wing of the Dems are accused of “overreach”, they have shown more willingness to comprise than have Manchin or Sinema; any wish for “bipartisanship” is a pipe dream as long as McConnell continues to oppose any GOP cooperation. I share your assessment that Biden and the Dems need to be better, and that matter what they do (or do not) accomplish they are still better than an executive branch ruled over by trump and a GOP that is committed to having the gov’t fail. I grew up believing that no matter which party was in control, the goal of both parties was to make the gov’t function. I grew up with the concept of the out of power party being the loyal opposition, something that seems anathema to our current former president and the GOP.
Stephen Schaare says
Hi Bob, Have some more Kool ade. Biden is going back to the Trump “remain in Mexico” policy. Just thought I’d share that with you.
Bob Parker says
I believe that was in response to a Federal court ruling. Isn’t it a relief having a President and administration that follows the law!?!
John Dean says
Thanks for your comment. You make some good points. Had I written a much longer piece, I would have included some of them. I would note, however, that every president inherits problems. Excusing mediocre or poor performance on the previous president can only get you so far.
I continue to hope that Biden will do better going forward.
In any case, thank you for reading and commenting on the piece.
Mike Stull says
Joe is not a leader and never has been. He can’t lead his own party much less the country and is a total failure on the world stage. His diversity staff selections are a disaster starting with his Vice President which are another leadership failure. Once the machinery of government gets momentum in the wrong direction it it takes strong leadership to correct it. That leadership does not exist in Joe Biden as evidenced by his performance during the last 50 years. Kamala Harris? Has there ever been a better example of an empty suit? OK, maybe Joe, but other than these two?
John Dean says
Thank you for reading the piece and commenting. As you might guess, although I am bit frustrated with Biden, I do not agree with your conclusion that he is a terrible president.
I would also politely suggest that Mike Pence was more of an empty suit than Biden was during the Obama administration. I believe it is too early to conclude Harris lacks talent.
For the sake of the country, I hope Biden succeeds in getting on track.
Deborah McKinley says
Good try, but those in the White House are indeed proving the train has already left the tracks and we’re just waiting for the cringe-worthy demolition.
John Dean says
Thanks for reading the piece. I believe it is very premature to suggest the Biden administration is a failure. He’s only been in office 8 months. Should he register a “win” or two, he might very well reverse the declines in the polls.
Deirdre LaMotte says
Every POTUS needs people who put country over party. They need cooperation on the issues that unite us, not for instance the fossil fuel
industry. Instead we have a party trying to derail and gum up all they can so the charismatic liar with a penchant for pithy sound bites is trying to
operate a shadow Presidency.
The GOP wants power only. They got us in this mess. Biden is in his first year , with more crises to unravel than any President in my lifetime.
The GOP? God help this country. Their vision is coat hangers, little wildlife remaining, oceans with deadly algae blooms, beach front properties half mile from the ocean, frequent hurricanes of unimagined ferocity, burned out forest.
But at least the fossil fuel providers will be enjoying their wealth, right?
Gosh, no they won’t. Oil reserves will be used up except for those too costly to extract.