Even Democrats Are Falling for Right-Wing Anti-Biden Rhetoric. But they are wrong about Biden.

There is a lot of anti-Biden sentiment out there, even among Democrats. I have been wondering why. I think it is triggered by a lot of false narrative. The right wing strategists are very good at disseminating their messaging online, and it has worked. I would like to set the record straight, at least my view of it.

Joe Biden has done a very good job as president.

COVID Pandemic

This was the first challenge Biden faced as president. The vaccine was already created by the time Biden entered the office, and it was available to everyone who needed it by April of the year he came into office. Trump gets credit for financially incentivizing the pharmaceutical companies to produce the vaccine in record time and for removing bureaucracies from their path. When Biden came in, the vaccine was ready and needed to be made available to 300 million people in the United States while also being made available across the world. The roll-out was smooth and effective. Everyone in the US who wanted the vaccine, was able to get it by May or June that year. And people who did not want it were not forced to get it. Personal choice in that regard was respected. This was no easy feat, but Biden and his administration, with the help of others, accomplished it quickly. We must give Biden credit for that.

Afghanistan

Everyone on both sides of the aisle have wanted the US to get out of Afghanistan for almost 20 years. Every president has tried to get out, Trump included. No one did until Biden. This is because removing the quantity of people and equipment that has accumulated in a country over the course of twenty years cannot be done fast enough for politics. If a president makes a plan to get out in the next, say, two years, they can start to implement the plan, but by the time two years passes, politics has changed like the wind. In politics, no plan lasts for two years. So, despite everyone wanting out, it was never achieved. Biden knew this because he had been in politics for fifty years. So he knew that getting out of Afghanistan would have to be like ripping off a band aide. It hurt, a lot, but it was the only way to do it. We lost human lives and important equipment. It was devastating. But we got out of a country we did not belong in. It had to be done and Biden did it. The fact that there was no other way was proven by twenty years of time. For a factual explanation of the U.S.’s departure from Afghanistan, see the History Channel’s “This Day in History: Kabul falls to the Taliban after U.S. withdrawal” https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kabul-falls-to-taliban-us-withdrawal . For a historical fiction depiction of what life was like in Afghanistan during the twenty years the that U.S. kept peace there, read Deborah Rodriguez’s “The Little Coffee Shop of Kabul”. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10374638-the-little-coffee-shop-of-kabul .

The Economy

Is the economy good or bad? Everyone seems to think differently. The stock market is in good shape and unemployment is low, but the cost of things is high. I don’t know whether the economy is good, bad or multifaceted. But I do not think the economy is Biden’s fault regardless. The high cost of items was caused by the pandemic, which interfered with the labor market causing a global supply shortage that we have not recovered from yet. We will, but it will not be because of Biden or any other president. It will be because the economy is a cycle. Any presidential candidate who wants to unseat an incumbent will always argue that the economy is bad and that it is the incumbent’s mismanagement that caused it. But this has never been true. As long as there is a smart, savvy person heading up the federal reserve, that is about all a president can do about the economy.

Why I am not concerned about Biden’s mental acuity

I have no reason to believe that Biden’s metal acuity is not up to par. I watch Biden speak in public and he speaks well. He ad libs a bit to show us his personality, which seems kind and genuine. It does not bother me if he flubs a few lines here and there. Who doesn’t? That is not important to me. What is important is whether he does a good job with his decisions in office and leads with integrity. He does. But even if his mental acuity is not that of a 40 year-old, it does not matter. Why? Because Binden has been in politics for fifty years and he knows who are the smartest people in every area of expertise necessary to run a country. Upon coming into office, he quickly installed them into offices in all federal agencies. They are the experts that he consults with and who inform and guide his decisions. They are responsible, conscientious people who know how to run a country. In short, Biden knows how to choose his experts. He does not have to be perfect. No one is. He has to have a strong smart team, and he has to be a good person with integrity who knows how to do the right thing. He is those things.

Israel and Gaza

The aftermath of Hamas’ attack on Israel in October 2023 was the biggest challenge of Biden’s presidency, since we have both Jews and Muslims in this country and we like them both. When they go head-to-head against each other, what is an observer to do? Biden has had to support Israel, our ally for almost a century, whose people have been persecuted for centuries and whose borders have been attacked relentlessly for decades. At the same time, Israel has had Gaza almost surrounded for decades, has taken some of its territory since WWII, and controls the resources that make it into Gaza. Biden cannot condone Israel’s killing of innocent people in Gaza. While of course he can (and should) denounce Hamas, he can’t publicly take a clear side between Israel and Palestinians. It is like the friend who has to appeal separately to each of her friends who are not getting along. So, he has attempted to work this out non-publicly in meetings with the two sides, with the help of Qatar, whose has turned out to be a very helpful influence. There is a lot of hate between Israel and Palestinians as well as other Muslims, and their differences have been irreconcilable for generations. In my view, Biden is doing as well as possible navigating a political minefield. The Israel-Hamas war is like Trump’s pandemic in that you can’t do well and it and it is right before an election.

Immigration

I hear people saying that Biden made changes that allows more migrants into the United States. This is not the case. Vastly, migrants are presenting themselves at ports of entry and asking for asylum, not sneaking across the border. Biden has done what he can using executive orders to help the situation, but our country has a border crisis that can only be fixed by amending the Immigration and Nationality Act and then giving the amendments a few years to be implemented and to realize their desired effect. The current crisis started in 2013 when massive volumes of Central Americans began to arrive at our Mexico border requesting asylum. Our asylum system was designed to handle 400 asylum seekers per year. Now, it is being called upon to handle 2 million asylum seekers per year. Our law does not allow us to turn them away without hearing their case. Mexico won’t allow us to send them back to Mexico in the meantime. Currently, the wait time for an asylum hearing is 5 years. Every president since 2014 has attempted to remedy the situation without the benefit of an amendment to the Act. Every attempt by every president has been challenged by litigation, de-railing its effectiveness. This year, bi-partisan immigration legislation would have made changes to rectify a lot of the problems but the Republicans decided at the ninth hour to attempt to save that win for Trump. For an excellent bi-partisan explanation of our border crisis, see Katie Couric’s interview of Theresa Cardinal Brown from the Bipartisan Policy Center. (“Why The 2024 Election Won’t Change The Immigration Problem” Feb 29, 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbr9wmMdA0c). For my thoughts on a possible immigration compromise, see my blog post "Let's Compromise On Immigration".

What is the one thing that Biden has done gravely wrong?

He did not groom and boost a successor. He decided to take a second term in office. Instead, he should have spent the last four years showcasing a person who could take his second term. This could have been Kamala or someone else. But he should have been putting this person in a positive spotlight for the last four years, showing the world how brilliant and capable and impressive the person is, inspiring faith in a person who could excite the Democrats, Independents and moderate Republicans in November 2024. Making Kamala in charge of immigration was the polar opposite of this. There was no way anyone could succeed in that role. Furthermore, Biden has not boosted Kamala at all, has not given her chances to shine and has not made her a strong candidate to succeed him. He has not done this with anyone else either. The young people in this country do not want to vote for an 81 year old man. Who could blame them? The Democratic party needs a strong candidate who is their forties and who is appealing to Democrats, independents and moderate Republicans. Biden should have found this person and spent 4 years touting them.