The Greatest President in My Lifetime- A Tribute to Joe Biden
And also, Five Questions Now That He Is Out of the Race
One of my favorite movies is “Moneyball,” the baseball classic starring Brad Pitt based on the true story of Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane. Beane started out as a heralded baseball player who’s run in the majors was frustrated and was largely considered a bust. One of my favorite quotes from the film is this one:
In short, at some point we’re all shown the door, whether by ability, competency or age.
Biden had ability and competency as a politician. As a young upstart in the 1970s, he was quickly identified as a future leader in the party, and in the late 1980s made his first run for President. During the 1990s he was THE leader, as heads of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. In the 2000s, he was the voice of reason following 9/11 for Dems, and after the horrible invasion of Iraq he was the most vocal Democrat offering ways to rebuild Iraq. When Obama tapped him as Vice President, it was because he checked all the boxes that Obama was deficient in; he had a lifetime of connections on Capitol Hill, had foreign policy experience and connections and was more of a known quantity capable of lending credibility to the young, barely experienced Senator from Illinois who had not even finished his first term. Biden was a Big Fucking Deal.
In 2020, he did exactly what this country needed most; he beat the worst, most incompetent President and his cult-like following, kicking them out of the White House. The country was ravaged by COVID. The economy was in free fall. The world was changing, becoming more volatile. America needed a steady hand, and that is exactly what we got. Biden expanded vaccine distribution,1 issued economic stimulus to maintain people’s standard of living while also getting the economy back on track, and initiated the nations biggest infrastructure package since the 1980s.2 Biden had bare majorities to pass these items and managed to push them through. To top it off, he passed the Inflation Reduction Act and funding for Ukraine and Taiwan with the help of a hostile Republican Congress in charge of the House. Speaking of Ukraine…
As Russia began to exert it’s authority over eastern Europe, Biden rang the alarm bells and rallied Europe/NATO to his side. Alerting Ukraine to an imminent invasion, he forwarded arms and training to the former Soviet state, expanded NATO and improved the bonds between member states. American hegemony returned to the world again, after being dormant through most of the 2010s. Biden brought it back.
To be sure, there were some policies I disagreed with, just as there are with every President I have lived under (student loan forgiveness for instance). But with Biden I have no disagreement on where his heart was. It was clearly with helping the working and lower class individuals and easing their issues. To that end, he has done a better job than any other President in my lifetime. He was a genuinely good and decent man, who strived to make the world a better place. His administration endured no real scandals that weren’t trumped up or concocted out of whole cloth by the opposition.3 The economy is better than ever, with unemployment at historic lows and inflation dropping to normal levels again. At the end of his term in January 2025, Joe Biden would have brought us back from the depth of near depression to the envy of the world. That is Joe Biden’s legacy.
Getting back to that Moneyball quote, we’re all told when we have to go. Joe’s only hurdle was his age, which had slowed him down to the point he could no longer keep up with other candidates by comparison. It’s never easy to be told your time is up and be shown the door. It’s harder in politics, to give up all that power and a lifetime’s work of knowledge and favor. When all is said and done, Joe Biden giving it up may end up being his greatest feat, a legacy worthy of remembrance. It’s akin to Bilbo giving up the Ring in Lord of the Rings.
It was time. Nonetheless, I would take a Joe Biden in his golden years as a legislator over most any politician in their prime; Joe’s a Sandy Koufax, Lou Gehrig or Micky Mantle playing a game in D.C. populated with mediocrities and AAA league call-ups. Joe is Cooperstown material through and through. He will be missed and remembered not only for what he did, but for how he played the game. God Bless You Joe.
PurpleAmerica’s 5 Questions
Now that Joe Biden has stepped down from running for President again, questions remain. Here are the five immediate questions I have and some brief answers as I see them at the current time.
Will Kamala Harris be the Democratic Nominee? Likely, yes. She has a boatload of cash from the Biden/Harris fundraising, and Biden has already endorsed her as President. Things are lining up well for her to be the nominee, even if there is an open contest at the convention. I think Democrats understand this is a strange situation they are in, and don’t want to rock the boat too much in these odd waters.
OK. But then who becomes the Vice Presidential Nominee? Ha. Good question. My best guess is that they will take from the bench of those states they really need this November—Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Of the elected officials there, the one that stands out most is Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. He’s well liked and can deliver the state. Looking to Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer is a solid option, and having two women at the top of the ticket can double down the same way two southerners worked out for Clinton-Gore.4 Outside of that scope there are Andy Beshear, Governor of Kentucky, Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo and Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg. The only person I don’t think it would be is California Governor Gavin Newsome, since both he and Harris hail from California and he would tend to outshine the top of the ticket.
How will the Trump team react? Well, my guess is fine. They’re whole theory of the election was to run against a dead Biden and a live Harris; this just removes the first part of that clause. They’ll attack Harris on a bunch of fronts, mostly for her more progressive positions. Before the past couple months, Harris’ numbers were lower than Biden’s, but I attribute that to the nature of the Vice Presidency itself. Free to run the kind of campaign she wants, it’ll be an interesting and energized campaign. I’m not sure the Trump Campaign really understands what they’re in for here.
How does this change the Electoral College math? The swing states for this election were always going to be WI, MI, PA, NV, GA, AZ and NC. Over the last 2 months, all of those states were slipping from Biden, leaving just WI, MI and PA (and those were trending away too). Now that there is a different candidate, with different stengths and attributes, do the swing states change? Can Kamala bring NV, AZ or GA back into her camp? Can she open up NC? Can she expand the map? An overwhelming majority of Americans didn’t want Biden OR Trump as their options; does the infusion of someone else change the dynamic altogether? On this, I have no idea. It’s going to be a wild ride.
Who wins in November? At this point, I’d favor Dems, particularly if there is a debate or two. I think Harris would trounce Trump in a debate. That prosecutor’s ability to make the case is her strong suit. She’s not the best “campaigner” in the sense she doesn’t connect all too greatly with voters, but boy can she make the arguments. And in this year, that appeal may be all she needs to win.
PurpleAmerica’s Obscure Facts of the Day
I met Joe Biden only once when I worked in D.C.. It was at an event honoring then Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, and there were a number of Senators there offering their praises of Dole who was retiring. As a young staffer, I went out of my way to say hello and shake his hand and tell him how much I admired him. He was gracious for the warm words and then deflected to the event and Dole and said, “I’ll tell you, they don’t make them like Bob anymore. Let me tell you, he’s going to be missed around here.”
That’s how I feel about Joe. He’s the last of that dying breed of American statesmen. As for age of the President, Sarah Longwell said it best.
PurpleAmerica’s Final Word
God Bless You Joe Biden.
Footnotes and Fun Stuff
To his credit, Trump’s “Operation Warp Speed” to get a COVID vaccine created and distributed was a major success. It is oddly ironic that Trump has spent so much effort distancing himself from it.
It was an ongoing joke during the Trump administration that “next week will be Infrastructure Week.”
The closest they could come was related to Biden’s son Hunter’s personal dramas. These are a reflection of Hunter, not Joe.
Although I really want to reiterate this, since its a HUGE factor and issue for Dems; Democrats need 40% of the white male vote, and not sure two women on the ticket help with that.
Biden did a lot of good things. He was not my by first choice in the 2020 primary, but he exceeded all expectations. Best wishes to him and Jill.