Joe Biden's "Ray Patterson" Problem
His Governmental Competence is Unquestioned; His Ability to Campaign Against Idiocy? Well....
Amidst all the consultants and pundits and everyone clutching their pearls over Biden’s numbers over a year from the election, and what people think about the economy, and his neck and neck polls with Trump, those things are the least of my concerns.
The economy is kicking, but it always takes time for people to feel it. By 2024, the economy should be fine.1
A President’s poll numbers always ebb in the off years, and are mostly impacted by the economy. As campaigns heat up, that is when you see a President’s poll numbers breaking more positive for them. Barring some monumental event changing trajectory, Biden will be just fine there.
Trump is going to be a huge target through the next four months as the primaries heat up, and for months after that as the trials come to the forefront. Not too worried there either.
No, what worries me is something I refer to as the “Ray Patterson Problem.” Ray Patterson is a character from a single Simpsons episode. He’s the Sanitation Commissioner of the City of Springfield, and by all accounts he does a great job and is a competent administrator. He’s been elected 16 years in a row. For reasons that are actually hilarious2, Homer decides to run against Patterson. What happens is the epitome of politics today. I’ll let the Simpson’s Wiki on the episode describe what happens:
And it is this where Joe Biden is analogous. Biden is an extremely competent, faithful public servant with an esteemed record and impeccable reputation. He can run on that record all he wants, but when faced against a completely moronic boob, with a catchy slogan, a charismatic persona and who offers stuff that he has no chance of delivering on, he’s going to lose. It doesn’t matter who the GOP nominee is. Watching the debate last week, none of what they were saying about Biden were grounded in truth or reality. But the more outrageous and ridiculous the slander, the more excited the crowd was to hear it.3
Biden needs more than just a record. He needs vibrance. He needs chutzpah. He needs to show more moxie and charisma. Don’t tell me he’s just old and that’s asking too much; Mick Jagger is 80, and can still show more action than people half his age. He needs to be out on a campaign trail showing some energy. It’s not his strong suit,4 but it’s what has to be done. Because if he is unable to respond to the shitstorm coming his way, then praising all the things he’s done as President, even if true, is not going to help carry him in November.
That Simpsons episode follows with what is to be expected when an incompetent idiot gets elected to office:5
Homer wastes the entire yearly budget in a month, prompting him to raise funds by allowing larger cities to dump their garbage in Springfield.
An emergency town meeting is called to oust Homer and bring back Patterson, overwhelmingly approved. Patterson declines the job saying essentially “You all did this to yourselves, good luck, bye.”
The entire town of Springfield is moved rather than clean up the mess they made
It culminates in this spoof of a famous environmental PSA featuring “Iron Eyes” Cody crying, which is what you can anticipate if Trump or some insane Republican wins again.
The consequences of picking our elected officials are huge. It’s important that we, as citizens, select the best, most competent people to fill these important roles. Unfortunately, as marketing and social media continue to take over our lives and promote idiocracy at the expense of rationality and wisdom, we can anticipate better public servants to fail, and imbeciles saying “Can’t Someone Else Do It?” continuing to prevail.
Hopefully, I am wrong on that, and I would be glad to admit if I am.
PurpleAmerica Recommended Stories
Any Michael Lewis book is always worth it, but if you really want to know about the incredibly competent and burdened people in our civil service, doing all the day to day things required of our government, and how politics directly impacts them and their ability to do their important jobs, Lewis has written two recently, both of which are among his best.
First, there is “The Fifth Risk,” which takes a look primarily at our Civil Service, and the impact Trump’s early term, changes he made, adn the impacts that had on the capacity to do their jobs.
https://www.amazon.com/Fifth-Risk-Michael-Lewis/dp/1324002646
He followed that up with a similar book, but scoping it specifically on the COVID response, titled “The Premonition.”
https://www.amazon.com/The-Premonition-A-Pandemic-Story/dp/B08XQVKCGG/ref=sr_1_1?crid=20GK8STQ5D496&keywords=Premonition&qid=1693591065&s=books&sprefix=premonition%2Cstripbooks%2C115&sr=1-1
Both are very much worth your time to read. Highly recommended.
PurpleAmerica’s Cultural Corner
When it comes to politics, The Simpsons has a long history of really nailing it on the head. I mean, some of the best Simpson-isms come from longtime Mayor “Diamond” Joe Quimby and how the news covers politicians in Kent Brockman’s commentary.
But for my money, the best was The Simpson take on the 1996 election (this was from 27 years ago!) which is still completely on point today. You could substitute Clinton and Dole for any general election competitors today and it would still ring true.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word on the Subject
The Simpsons also have a long record of predicting the future. Here is a small CNN video describing the time The Simpson’s predicted the Trump Presidency.
It didn’t turn out well there, and it didn’t turn out well in real life either. Just remember that if he were to get another term in 2024, that also won’t likely turn out well (again).
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Footnotes and Fun Stuff
Most earlier Simpsons episodes were indeed a riot; the newer ones have kind of gotten stale and not so funny anymore.
If you want to know why Vivek Ramaswamy got a bump in the polls following the debate, this is why; he was just the one saying the most outlandish things, and in his case none of it was really true.
And if you remember the 2020 campaign, it almost killed his campaign right up until James Clyburn endorsed him.
Something we saw play out in real time during the Trump years