Joe Biden (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
On both sides of the ever-widening political divide, there are those who no doubt agree a change of direction is needed at the White House. Conservatives would argue the only solution to a year of failure is replacing the current occupants of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue – all of them – with people who aren’t Democrats. From the left’s perspective, it is merely a messaging problem that requires a reset – an image makeover, so to speak, for the president. But given Joe Biden’s obvious personal difficulties with messaging, the last thing anyone would expect is for his advisors to determine he needs to spend more time making his case directly to the people. Yet, according to an NBC News report, that is exactly what the great minds inside the People’s House have concluded.
Mr. Biden campaigned on promises of restoring things to “normal” after the allegedly chaotic and terrifying tribulations of the Trump presidency. He would bring back civility, unity, and competence. He did none of those things. Indeed, it is just about impossible for any serious-minded observer to deny civility is no more evident in Washington, D.C. today than it was prior to Biden’s inauguration, while disunity and incompetence have become accepted features, it seems, of all three branches of the federal government.
So, Biden’s team is now looking for a reset strategy, according to what administration officials told NBC, which smacks of a tacit admission that the chief executive’s first year in office has been a failure. The problem, it seems, is that Biden has been conducting himself more like a member of the Senate – the institution in which he spent almost three decades – than the head of the executive branch.
Empathy?
Suggesting the desire for this reset comes from Mr. Biden himself, one official said, “There is a recognition that we need to change that dynamic.” But still, as is the case with almost every White House initiative spawned over the past year, no clear plan of action has been formulated, thus far. Somewhat bizarrely, the NBC article describes aides fearing their boss’s plummeting approval ratings are, at least in part, due to his “one-dimensional” White House speeches and that he would do better if he leaned more on his “greatest political strength: empathy and an ability to connect with ordinary Americans.”
Anyone who thinks this is Biden’s greatest strength has not watched the way he addresses the nation these days. Candidate Biden was portrayed as mild-mannered, empathetic “Uncle Joe,” but that persona evaporated soon after he first entered the White House as president. Since then, the tone of his speeches has ranged from hectoring and exasperation to outright anger and hostility. The nation’s leader has shown himself to be a man with absolutely no tolerance – and certainly no empathy – for any American who does not support his agenda and won’t obey.
Competence Trumps ‘Messaging’
It has been a hallmark of fading governments with an authoritarian bent throughout history that, faced with popular disapproval, either the leader or some adviser will conclude that he or she must do more to connect with the adoring public who will then feel their love for the regime rekindled. Arguably, such a strategy has never worked. Perhaps Mr. Biden would feel the love a lot more if he fulfilled a few of his campaign promises and stopped berating the American people for daring to question both his policies and leadership style.
If the current commander-in-chief could learn anything from his predecessor, it is that even if a lot of the people don’t care for the manner or the messaging of their leader, they will, for the most part, put up with it so long as positive things are being achieved.
~ Read more from Graham J. Noble.
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