Credibility is crucial to effective government, which the President must understand.
President Joe Biden appeared to be divorced from the political reality swirling around him and his White House last Friday when ABC News anchor David Muir peered behind the curtain.
In the midst of one of the worst chemical disasters in recent memory, there was a commander-in-chief who couldn’t remember ever speaking with the mayor of a small Ohio town. For three weeks, the news was all about this terrible train derailment.
When Muir asked the president if he had spoken with the mayor of East Palestine, he was just now a moment ago. I don’t remember that,” Biden said. “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to the mayor. The others and I had several conversations.
Senators and governors were the subjects of my conversations.
I also spoke with everyone I could find. Additionally, we have made it clear that everything is available. ”.
The best this president could do for his fellow citizens, who were terrified and afraid of losing everything they had worked for, was that.
He didn’t sound like a politician who has made a career out of playing the role of “Lunch Bucket Joe,” who understands the concerns of the “little guy,” but rather more like a federal bureaucrat. “Yet, here he was, in East Palestine, with sick people, where the soil and waterways had been contaminated with dangerous chemicals.
But there was no humanity in this president. No feeling of urgency exists. And an amazingly low degree of sympathy for a man who has gone through a personal tragedy.
His mind and heart were still in Ukraine when he ought to have been on his way to Ohio, and he appeared oddly detached from reality. Sending his incompetent Transportation Secretary, Pete Buttigieg, in his place only serves to reinforce the perception that this White House operates in slow motion.
It was a puzzling incident that, I imagine, caused many viewers to wonder just how distant this president actually is from the people he was elected to lead.
Biden responded strangely when Muir brought up his dismal poll numbers, which have hardly changed despite his boasts of great economic success and historic legislative “victories.”. According to Muir, a recent ABC News poll found that only 16 percent of people believed their circumstances had improved since Biden took office, while 41% believed they had worsened.
“I think it goes well beyond the economy,” the president told Muir, ignoring his personal responsibility for an unsatisfied electorate. Is there anything you can watch on television and say, “God, that makes me feel good?” Everything is bad. ”.
Biden continued, “I don’t blame people for being depressed; you know, when you had the year, two years of the pandemic, kids out of school, the country’s mental health problems… seriously increased, especially among young people. “Everything from gasoline prices to the war in Ukraine, you know, is still higher than it ought to be, including inflation. There has never been a time when there has been more uncertainty, in my opinion. ”.
One had to wonder what kind of bubble Joe Biden operates in at this point in the interview to understand what was being said.
He is to blame for the unrest in the nation as a result of his policies, which failed to bring about the prosperity, advancement, or unification he had promised. If inflation is too high, he might think about the possibility that his energy, economic, and climate-focused policies are not only ineffective, but are also making life more difficult for the typical American family.
As Biden correctly notes, people are depressed. They criticize him and the direction the nation is taking. According to Tuesday’s RealClearPolitics correct track/wrong track average, 27% of voters believed the government was headed in the right direction, while 64% believed it was not. However, over the past 18 months, the average wrong track was 61 percent or higher for each month.
That is not development by any fair definition.
Biden and his backers lay the blame at the feet of the media, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Republicans, and former President Donald Trump—though not necessarily in that order. not his devotion to overregulation, which has made it worse, nor the unprecedented inflation that is still making life difficult for the majority of Americans.
not his disastrous energy policies, which have increased the cost of almost everything. not his open border policy, his disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, or his supply chain failure.
Not his handling of the COVID-19 outbreak, extravagant spending plans, canceled flights, erratic financial markets, or private documents. Americans only had to watch the White House mess up the expensive Chinese balloon incident in February, which included three shot-down balloons that are still missing. This is in addition to the East Palestine derailment.
The dissatisfaction of the American people with the state of the Union is not surprising. The White House has made a series of poor choices over the past two years, leading to a roller coaster of missteps that has damaged the public’s trust in the president, his administration, and his cabinet.
Effective governance depends on a high level of credibility. It makes it possible for politicians to talk to a receptive populace. Once voter confidence has been lost, it typically takes time to regain it. In the case of this president, this process depends on his willingness to review his policies and the people in charge of implementing them.
Like previous presidents who got stuck in a rut, Biden needs to rebuild his public image. A great first step would be for him to stop blaming other people and take ownership of his errors. In order to achieve the unity and economic stability he promised, working with Republicans will also require a sincere effort.
It also implies that Biden needs to come out of his progressive shell, assess the skills of his team, and acknowledge the fact that his initiatives haven’t been able to resonate with the American people. In case anyone needed further proof, the Muir interview showed a president who desperately needed to face reality.
