Joe Biden Was Nobody’s First Pick. Thank God.
The president-elect was a tepid compromise candidate in an era when politics runs on wild-eyed fandom. It’s a relief.
The most promising thing in American politics right now is that no one really likes Joe Biden. My only hope is that Joe Biden doesn’t try to fix this anytime soon.
To be clear: I don’t hate Joe Biden. He does nothing to inspire the visceral anger and fear I felt toward his predecessor. He’s the generic, semi-competent white man I wound up with after my hopes for several better Democratic candidates fell through. For most of the Democrats and left-leaning voters I know, Joe Biden is just that: the last available option, the human safety school. He’s the nice-enough boy you go to the dance with when your true love asks someone else.
Presidents, more than most politicians, run on mystique and emotional connection. There are plenty of dull and competent senators out there — Joe Biden was one of them for decades — but when you become the focus for an entire nation, that nation typically demands to be entertained. In my lifetime—which, to be fair, began in an era presided over by literal movie star Ronald Reagan—most presidents have been brands as much as people, embraced not just for themselves but for what the choice says…
