Rose says despite a raft of legislation, Biden is not inspiring people

Joe Biden Donald Trump Barack Obama

Dan Quayle Kamala Harris Maureen Dowd

By Scott Benjamin

“The heart is wiser than the head. Gifted politicians understand this intuitively and connect with voters on this deeper and less mechanical level. Ronald Reagan swept the country with his feel-good “morning in America” campaign; Bill Clinton won over voters with his scrappy “comeback kid” message; and Barack Obama inspired millions with his promise of “hope and change.”

- Bobby Jindal and Alex Castellanos, The Wall Street Journal, December 10, 2020

FAIRFIELD – How is it that Joe Biden has just scored legislative accomplishments that might put him on the same victory platform with Ronald Reagan and Lyndon Johnson yet the public applause more resembles that at a duckpin bowling tournament rather than for Paul McCartney at Fenway Park?

Is it because it seems that dining at the pasta palace has become more costly than paying the mortgage?

“It’s not just the economy,” said Gary Rose, the chairman of the Government Department at Sacred Heart University, who has authored a wheel barrel full of books on politics.

He added, “There’s more to it than that. Even if the economy were more robust, I think there would be a lot of displeasure with this president. It’s really a matter of style. There are parts of his behavior – they’re not offensive – but maybe he’s not fully aware of things”

“His demeanor,” said Rose in an interview with Patch.com. “It works against him because he doesn’t exude confidence when he speaks.”

“We don’t make the big decisions in our lives with a calculator: whom we love, whom we marry, the children we bring into the world, the groups to which we are loyal, the causes for which we fight and die. We make those commitments not only with our heads, but also with our hearts."

- Jindal and Castellanos

Remarked Rose, “So much is visceral reaction.”

“When Biden speaks, he leans over the microphone,” he explained. “He whispers.”

“Barack Obama had charisma,” said Rose.” He was dynamic. He has a lot of tools that resonate with people.”

Biden has “a pleasant personality that doesn’t resonate with people,” he commented.

According to statistician Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight web site, Biden’s approval rating in all polls combined is 39.6 percent.

Additionally, Rose said Vice President Kamala Harris “has done little to bolster the Biden presidency.”

She has been criticized on her work on immigration border patrol issues, and has been compared by New York Times columnist Bret Stephens to former Republican Vice President Dan Quayle, who 30 years ago was a frequent subject of Jay Leno’s Tonight Show monologues.

Rose noted that the late David Broder, the political columnist, and Bob Woodward, the famed investigative reporter, did a series of stories in the Washington Post on Quayle that became a book in 1992.

In a review, the Library Journal wrote that although Quayle lacked “intellectual depth,” he was “presented as a decent politician (and parent) who is able to get along with others.”

Remarked Rose, “I don’t think the same story is going to be written on Kamala Harris.”

“With the help of Chuck and Nancy, President Biden has had a cascade of legislative accomplishments on tech manufacturing, guns, infrastructure — and hopefully soon, climate and prescription drugs — that validate his promises when he ran. These are genuine achievements that Democrats have been chasing for decades, and they will affect generations to come.”

Maureen Dowd, The New York Times, August 6, 2022

So why is Biden polling so poorly when Build Back Better might belong on the same mantle as Reagan’s New Federalism and Johnson’s Great Society?

Said Rose, “He’s not inspiring the country.”

“It hasn’t translated into good feelings about him, and some of those bills are important,” he commented. “I think that some years from now we will think that they have been beneficial for the country.”

However, Rose said the recent string of legislative victories “could generate a strong turnout of Democrats” in the November 8 midterm election.

“Passage of the climate bill would give Biden and Democratic candidates something tangible to talk about this fall,” wrote Dan Balz of the Washington Post.

Rose said he stops short of those forecasting “a red wave” for Republicans in the November 8 balloting.

Yet, he added that it is possible that at least one of the two chambers turns Republican, which would bring the “Biden agenda” to “a grinding halt.”

Rose said that although the Biden legislation seeks tax increases and boosts Internal Revenue Service auditing, which should help offset new spending, there appears to be limited commitment to lowering the existing annual federal budget deficit. It climbed to more than $1 trillion under Republican former President Donald Trump and has surged even higher under Biden.

Rose noted that Ross Perot “raised” deficit reduction as an issue in his independent bid for the White House in 1992 and soon after Democratic former President Bill Clinton “addressed it.”

“It is a hugely important issue,” he said.

Clinton submitted four consecutive balanced budgets, the last of which took effect in October 2000.

Dowd wrote that Biden should “ride the crest of success” into political retirement without a second term.

When was the last time that happened?

And what about that adage that in politics it is very difficult to get back to a job that you once had?

Usually, former presidents are embellishing their accomplishments in a 900-page memoir and finding a suitable location for their museum.

Trump has been an exception.

“Trump’s behavior at times was reprehensible, and I think that cost him the election,” said Rose.

Yet, he said it is very plausible that Trump will seek the 2024 Republican nomination.

“He loves to be antagonistic,” said Rose. “I think he loves the lime light.”

Rose, who has praised a number of Trump’s policies, said even if Trump doesn’t run again, the GOP nominee in 2024 will probably have to adopt much of Trump’s platform, which appealed to more working-class voters.

He commented, “Trump remade the Republican Party.”

Resources:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/t...

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/06/opinion/biden-re-election-2024.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/opinion/biden-manchin-inflation-climate-change.html

https://www.washingtonpost.com...

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/biden-approval-rating/

https://www.amazon.com/Man-Who-Would-President-Quayle/dp/0671791834

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/11/opinion/biden-musk-presidency.html

https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/15...