# Can I be the only person stunned at just how badly President Joe Biden is doing? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 31, 2021, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851 "2021-08-31T19:33:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 20
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/395 "2021-12-17T06:15:02Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > He is much better than Trump in many ways but has struggled to **unite the party.** THIS party? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/396 "2021-12-17T08:12:08Z")
As an outsider I must say that, compared to previous presidents he is almost invisible to us and when he does actually speak on matters he is monotone to the point of tedium. There’s certainly no dynamism or energy there, I sort of expect politicians to get challenged through Q and A’s and respond robustly but I never see any of that with Biden. To be honest I can’t even recall him getting involved in such conversations in the first place. Of course I don’t know if that is just a UK media filter he may have such interractions regularly but I just don’t see it. I don’t know about doing “badly”, but as someone who’d be a natural democrat voter were I in the US he certainly seems deeply uninspiring. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/397 "2021-12-17T09:38:00Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > As an outsider I must say that, compared to previous presidents he is almost invisible to us… > > … but as someone who’d be a natural democrat voter were I in the US he certainly seems deeply uninspiring By far my favorite things about Biden after the last few years. Biden is not my idea of a great president, but honestly no one can match my idea of a great president. Or even a good one. First you’d have to start with someone completely unambitious which is intrinsically impossible. My conception of the ideal president is probably closer to a selfless and dull-as-dishwater technocrat paper pusher. I am pragmatically concerned about his likeability in regard to the general populace only as it relates to his electability. But personally? I prefer boring. The fewer daily news items mentioning the president, the happier I am. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/398 "2021-12-17T09:54:44Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > As an outsider I must say that, compared to previous presidents he is almost invisible to us and when he does actually speak on matters he is monotone to the point of tedium. More to the point, compared to the _previous president_, he is positively dull. But in that context, “dull” is an absolute positive. Chaos is exciting. Housefires are exciting. Wars are exciting. Competent administration is boring. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/399 "2021-12-17T10:00:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > He doesn’t need congress to do anything about student debt. Unilaterally cancelling $1.7 trillion in debt owned by the US government isn’t something done lightly, especially when you’re also trying to pass a social safety net bill that costs about that much and you’re dealing with an opposition party that pretends to care about the debt when they’re in the minority. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/400 "2021-12-17T10:23:43Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > To be honest I can’t even recall him getting involved in such conversations in the first place. He does get in occasional “zingers”, but his delivery is, I think deliberately, understated. He wants to make his point, without a lot of flash, because all too often the “flash” ends up being the only topic of conversation. For instance, I saw one question and answer where a Black Woman was asking Biden about police stopping Black motorists, and all the dangers that entails for Blacks in the US. She phrased it as, “If **I** were **your** daughter, what advice would you give me about being pulled over by the police?” Biden didn’t miss a beat in saying, “If you were **my** daughter you wouldn’t have been pulled over in the first place, because you’d be Caucasian.” Which wonderfully cuts through the usual bullshit to highlight the real problem here. But again, delivered in a matter-of-fact way. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/401 "2021-12-17T10:43:45Z")
Let’s not forget that he’s also had to overcome a stutter, which can also affect his tone and delivery. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/402 "2021-12-17T10:45:35Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > More to the point, compared to the _previous president_ , he is positively dull. But in that context, “dull” is an absolute positive. > > Chaos is exciting. Housefires are exciting. Wars are exciting. Competent administration is boring. I wasn’t thinking of him in terms of a comparison to Trump. He was an aberration. I was more comparing him to all other presidents that I have genuine awareness of. From Reagan onwards. He’s the most downbeat and undynamic I can recall. It isn’t even dullness as such, more of a slowness of thought. He seems very scripted and slow in general. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/403 "2021-12-17T10:51:47Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > She phrased it as, “If **I** were **your** daughter, what advice would you give me about being pulled over by the police?” Biden didn’t miss a beat in saying, “If you were **my** daughter you wouldn’t have been pulled over in the first place, because you’d be Caucasian.” Which wonderfully cuts through the usual bullshit to highlight the real problem here. That just sounds like a typical politician non-answer. An perfect example of avoiding the question. Implicit in the woman’s question already is the understanding that police interactions may be different for black people, otherwise why is she asking? If that was the sum total of Biden’s answer then it didn’t address her question at all did it? If I ask “how do I, as a black woman, protect myself when pulled over by police?” and a politician’s answer is, in effect, “we’ll it wouldn’t happen if you were white”. I fail to see how that’s helpful in any way. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/404 "2021-12-17T10:54:26Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > If I ask “how do I, as a black woman, protect myself when pulled over by police?” > and a politician’s answer is, in effect, “we’ll it wouldn’t happen if you were white”. I fail to see how that’s helpful in any way. But at the same time, how likely is it that an elderly white man will actually have any useful advice for that situation? Better for him to just cut the bullshit than to possibly provide fodder for a “Look how out of touch Biden is!” meme. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/405 "2021-12-17T10:57:00Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > Better for him to just cut the bullshit than to possibly provide fodder for a “Look how out of touch Biden is!” meme. What he said was typical politician bullshit though wasn’t it? Answering a different question than the one he was asked. His answer also carried with it the implication that he can’t see any circumstances under which he might have a black woman as a daughter which seems pretty out-of-touch anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/406 "2021-12-17T10:57:31Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > But at the same time, how likely is it that an elderly white man will actually have any useful advice for that situation? Yeah, any actual answer would sound like him telling her, in another context, to wear less revealing clothing and not go out alone late at night. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/407 "2021-12-17T11:04:23Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > That just sounds like a typical politician non-answer. An perfect example of avoiding the question. It strikes me as exactly the opposite. A “typical politician non-answer” would be to express vague concern about the state of things and how he feels her pain and how while he supports the police he knows that there is still work to do yadda yadda yadda. Biden’s answer cut straight to an admission that her concerns were valid, he’s not pretending otherwise, and he knows that he _can’t_ “feel her pain” - or indeed tell a black woman what she should do if pulled over. It doesn’t solve the problem but any answer that involved him telling her - the potential victim of injustice - what _she_ should do would have been the wrong answer, which Biden’s response made clear. In that respect, it’s already an improvement over other politicians. Which is helpful. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/408 "2021-12-17T11:46:06Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > It isn’t even dullness as such, more of a slowness of thought. He seems very scripted and slow in general. It’s called being measured, a quality not much in demand these days… and, as such, is quite refreshing when encountered. [https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/measured](https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/measured) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/409 "2021-12-17T11:50:29Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > What he said was typical politician bullshit though wasn’t it? Answering a different question than the one he was asked. > > His answer also carried with it the implication that he can’t see any circumstances under which he might have a black woman as a daughter which seems pretty out-of-touch anyway. Well, take a look. > **[Joe Biden Speaks About Institutional Racism | Institutional racism should no...](https://www.facebook.com/joebiden/videos/2153755508262825/)** > > Institutional racism should no longer exist. As president, I'll put forward change to help put an end to it. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/410 "2021-12-17T12:15:37Z")
I think, based on the clip provided, your inference is a generous one. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/411 "2021-12-17T12:20:18Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > First you’d have to start with someone completely unambitious which is intrinsically impossible. Jimmy Carter? ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/412 "2021-12-17T12:54:34Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > His answer also carried with it the implication that he can’t see any circumstances under which he might have a black woman as a daughter which seems pretty out-of-touch anyway. Wait; what? You’re reaching. Stretching your arms even. You already called him stupid; now you’re calling him racist. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/413 "2021-12-17T13:09:57Z")
“Also, he was standing higher than she was! Clearly this demonstrates how he looks down on black women!” ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2021, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851/414 "2021-12-17T13:48:53Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > You already called him stupid; now you’re calling him racist. I didn’t call him stupid and don’t think he is a racist. I think he’s neither. There’s no way that he could have existed for so long in the political game without being intelligent and nor do I think he is racist. However, the answer he gave to that question very much leaves him open to such accusations (and I suspect that had it been said by someone of another political stripe it would be an opening eagerly exploited). If the claim is that he is a particularly sharp political operator and his response to that question shows it, I beg to differ. It was off page 1 of the “answering political questions whilst not answering political questions” pamphlet and he did it in much the same way that all politicians do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851.md?page=19) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-i-be-the-only-person-stunned-at-just-how-badly-president-joe-biden-is-doing/949851.md?page=21)