One year in
One year into Joe Biden’s first term as president, it’s safe to say that the Democrat’s performance has not met lofty expectations. His average approval rating, at 49 percent according to Gallup, is better than Republican Donald Trump’s was at this point, but that’s not saying much. Trump’s 38 percent was the lowest firstyear approval rating of any president post World War II.
Of course, those presidents didn’t start off in year two of a pandemic that not only has wreaked havoc on our mental and physical health, but the economy and the supply chain.
Wednesday, on the eve of his year anniversary, the president held what was only his second formal news conference since taking office. He defended his governance, claiming to have “done remarkably well” despite significant pushback from Republicans. “I did not anticipate that there would be such a stalwart effort to make sure that the most important thing was that President Biden didn’t get anything done,” he complained.
Tempting as it is to dismiss that comment as a throwaway, pass the buck line, we should not. The country is arguably more politically and culturally divided today than it has been during any other time since the Civil War. And much of the Republican Party has shifted from one of conservatism to extremism, with many members focusing more on radical conspiracy theories around election results or white identity politics and obstructionism, than traditional GOP ideologies of national defense, small government and business promotion.
Both circumstances are consequences of the prior officeholder’s presidency. And we should take a moment here to consider what the country would look like should Donald Trump have retained the presidency. By most any measure, we would be worse off.
And Biden has had some wins—big ones. The $1.2 trillion infrastructure deal he struck is the largest of its kind since Dwight D. Eisenhower’s historic interstate highway plan of 1956. Under Biden’s leadership, more than 60 percent of the population also has been vaccinated, and unemployment has now fallen to a pandemic low. But the failures on his watch are stark.
Messaging overall may be Biden’s biggest problem. He made big promises—and he didn’t deliver. He is not, at least not yet, the reincarnation of FDR many had hoped.
If he is, as he’s said, planning to run for a second term, he’s going to have to recalibrate his approach, starting now. He can still think big, but he’s going to have to act small, given the hand he’s been dealt. We need realism and results. Hyperbole does not help; we want Honest Joe at the helm. For his second year in office, not being Donald Trump will not be enough.