(An actual (short) blog entry, for once, rather than me quoting somebody else.)
Young Senator Joe Biden voted for bussing, back in the 70s, and it almost cost him his job. After that, he pulled his horns way in and played the game necessary to stay in office.
Because you can’t have a good effect if you’re not actually in office, right?
When he became President, I had hoped young idealistic Joe Biden would come back, now that he had finally reached the pinnacle. But I don’t think he ever did, and now he’s leaving office with useless gestures that the clown we elected to replace him for reasons will simply immediately undo. Or that will have no effect, like his claim that the ERA is now law.
So… yeah, he was my President and continues to be, but mostly because the alternatives were worse. I was never a Sanders guy (insistence that it’s all about class, and race doesn’t enter into it is just moronic, sorry). I was a Bullock guy early on, then a Warren guy, and I would have preferred Buttigieg (Warren withdrew after our primary), but when Biden was the last one standing, I voted for him enthusiastically because the math is simple.
But I’m always going to be disappointed. I feel like I got less than half a loaf.
Here, Read This 
I think that Biden’s legacy will be far better once enough time has passed to allow the anger and fear of what is coming to pass into history.
I remember Ford being reviled for pardoning Nixon and Carter being reviled for not being an insider but with time we understood why Ford felt he had to issue that pardon even if we didn’t agree with it and Carter’s legacy after his term is far more of an “if you strike me down Darth…” Obi-Wan move where he was considered more presidential than most of his successors when they were in office.
In terms of legislative accomplishments in spite of an actively hostile House of Representatives, I do believe Biden will be considered one of the most successful at getting his priorities enacted even in spite of GOP hostility. Love or hate his policies, no one can deny he knew how Congress worked and how to work them. In that way, he reminded me so much of LBJ who was the real mover and shaker who got Kennedy’s legislation through and then added on the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act after the assassination.
I would love to see Mayor Pete get his shot in 2028 because I think he’d be an absolutely outstanding President who would happily go on Fox or any other rabid GOP media outlet and consistently hand their asses to them. He is clearly the smartest guy in the room by orders of magnitude with an incredible presence and poise on TV and one can only imagine what he’d have accomplished had he not been stuck at DOT.
However, if the electorate can’t be bothered to elect a much more qualified woman when one was on offer…I’m not really seeing the homophobia rampant in a large part of the electorate going away and that’s one hell of a headwind for Pete to overcome.
I think he’s more than capable but when you’re dealing with an electorate for whom objective provable fact is actively ignored in favour of conspiracy theories, I have to imagine we’d more likely see Vance get the White House unless he truly craps the bed in epic proportions.
LikeLike
Biden had a trifecta the first two years.
Biden was definitely no LBJ. LBJ was a complete shark. He was also no Carter. Carter took his shot and was reviled for it in office. Some might say it cost him the presidency. Biden never did that.
I *still* don’t understand why Ford pardoned Nixon. Read: I *still* think it was a very wrong move.
I actually think racism and sexism trump homophobia. I, too, hope to see more from Buttigieg. But, then, I also hoped to see more from William Gray III, and I never did. 😕
LikeLike