# Is it just me or is President Biden really good at the job? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 1, 2023, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859 "2023-06-01T06:12:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/41 "2023-06-01T17:57:28Z")
Biden gets a solid “meh” on my rating scale. He’ll no doubt get lambasted for presuming to negotiate with Republicans on the budget deal, but if it goes through, my impression of him (for minimal grandstanding and political posturing) goes up a notch. We’ve had much worse, and not too long ago. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/42 "2023-06-01T17:57:31Z")
> [@RitterSport](#): > > I don’t understand statements like this. The current economy is fantastic, with low unemployment and rising wages. Inflation is moderating, and is still a few points lower than when Reagan or Bush 1 was president. > > Maybe there will be a recession later this year, or maybe there will be a soft landing, but the current state is quite good. While my understanding is that all of this is true (and if we do have a recession, it looks likely to be a shallow, short one), but consumer confidence is weak, and consumer spending is down. People react to news stories that make things sound dire (interest rates went up again, Google laid off a bunch of people, the housing bubble has burst, etc.), and that affects their mood, moreso than looking at those fundamentals – which, frankly, most people don’t look at, and/or don’t really understand. Also, while, yes, inflation is a lot lower today than it was in the 80s, anyone under the age of 50 likely has little or no memory of what high inflation really was like – to them, the current inflation rates are unprecedented. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/43 "2023-06-01T17:58:20Z")
To be fair, you could be 14 years old and still think Biden is the 2nd worst President of your lifetime. It’s not great insult to Biden to rank him behind Obama, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/44 "2023-06-01T18:01:14Z")
Biden has done more to sew hatred and division in this country than any president in U.S. history. Race relations and other forms of imagined prejudice have reached an all time high. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/45 "2023-06-01T18:04:20Z")
I’d rank LBJ very high, except for Vietnam. His domestic policies were transformative. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/46 "2023-06-01T18:10:21Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Biden has done more to sew hatred and division in this country than any president in U.S. history. Race relations and other forms of imagined prejudice have reached an all time high. Holy Crap, I missed that. He seems like such a nice guy. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/47 "2023-06-01T18:13:03Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > to sew hatred and division sewing division: [![](https://media.cheggcdn.com/media%2F500%2F500a526b-ae1c-4eb4-8bcf-671e2d4dee3f%2Fphpm6Ymc7.png) ](https://media.cheggcdn.com/media%2F500%2F500a526b-ae1c-4eb4-8bcf-671e2d4dee3f%2Fphpm6Ymc7.png) ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/48 "2023-06-01T18:13:42Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Biden has done more to sew hatred and division in this country As busy as the POTUS must be, and still has time for needlework? > [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Race relations and other forms of imagined prejudice TIL race relations are a form of prejudice. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/49 "2023-06-01T18:13:50Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Biden has done more to sew hatred and division in this country than any president in U.S. history. Drugs kill, dude. Really, this is one of the most asinine statements I have ever read here. PS - It’s “sow,” not “sew.” ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/50 "2023-06-01T18:14:28Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Biden has done more to I eagerly await your evidence of things Biden has done to sow hatred and division. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/51 "2023-06-01T18:17:01Z")
I think Biden is good at the mechanics(?- not sure what to call it) of the job. He’s old-school and works for consensus, he understands the role of President, he wheels and deals where he needs to, and acts like the leader of the free world when required. I’m not 100% behind his policies- I disagree with several. But even disagreeing with him, I acknowledge that he’s good at the actual _doing_ of the job itself. I think that Biden isn’t perfect- he could be more dynamic, less “Old Uncle Joe” , and do a better job of being the de-facto party head than he is. I feel like he needs to shut up voices on his side that don’t further the party line- having multiple people saying multiple divergent things only makes the party look weak and confuses any voters who haven’t figured out how to vote yet (and they must be easily confused, or they’d have figured it out by now). But for all that, he’s _breathtakingly_ better than Trump, and is if nothing else, setting an example of how a politically divisive President can still govern effectively, even if his policies are controversial. I think saying he’s a solid “B” President isn’t an insult; a B isn’t a bad grade after all. This isn’t grad school grading anyway- plenty of Presidents get ranked at C or worse. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/52 "2023-06-01T18:20:27Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I eagerly await your evidence of things Biden has done to sow hatred and division. Well, first off, he’s a president and a Democrat. You can’t have that. Second, he sends aid to both blue and red states, rather than just red states, which is somehow divisive? Also, he honors the military rather than mocks them and, uh, that’s also divisive? He repaired our relationships with NATO and other allies, so if you hate NATO and our allies, that would definitely be divisive. He doesn’t refer to some countries as shithole countries – what if they really are shitholes? Isn’t that divisive somehow? I don’t know, it was like a post from another timeline. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/53 "2023-06-01T18:21:50Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I think saying he’s a solid “B” President isn’t an insult; a B isn’t a bad grade after all. This isn’t grad school grading anyway- plenty of Presidents get ranked at C or worse. Especially since The Previous Guy blew the bottom out of the curve. Future historians are going to have to invent new letters to show just exactly how bad he was. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/54 "2023-06-01T18:25:29Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > I eagerly await your evidence of things Biden has done to sow hatred and division. You and me both. Yeah, he’s pretty much in stealth mode a lot more than he should be, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t getting things done. He doesn’t speak well? Well, he has a speech impediment, so I don’t think beating up on him for that is appropriate. A simple search will reveal all that’s been accomplished, but that’s not what the oppo crowd does. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/55 "2023-06-01T18:26:58Z")
I continue to be impressed. I agree that Biden is doing quite well. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/56 "2023-06-01T18:30:12Z")
> [@HoneyBadgerDC](#): > > Biden has done more to sew hatred and division in this country than any president in U.S. history. Race relations and other forms of imagined prejudice have reached an all time high. Do you mean the time Biden spent years accusing, with zero evidence, the first black President of lying about his place of birth? Or the time Biden took deliberate action to separate (permanently!) migrant families, creating hundreds if not thousands of orphans who may never see their parents again, to deter future migrants? Or the time he, without evidence, spread lies about the 2020 election results, continuing to this day to insist (again, with zero evidence) that the results were fraudulent? Or was it something else Biden said or did? If so, what was it? ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/57 "2023-06-01T18:33:33Z")
I feel like had Biden got the nomination in 2016 and been elected, he’d have been viewed as sort of a follow-on for Obama, but nothing special in his own right. Maybe not quite a caretaker president, but not too far off either. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/58 "2023-06-01T18:40:29Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > What exactly good has Biden done? I think you (and many others) are discounting the Inflation Reduction Act, which was really an environmental law (gift link): > **[Opinion | The New Climate Law Is Working. Clean Energy Investments Are Soaring.](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/opinion/climate-clean-energy-investment.html?unlocked_article_code=XSu_gBzJ1UIyUBvHsGxKv6_MHO_DzOo5CP1vLrMO4ZGg2sydrDRcWBMDfQ97gVK8rLbFnY4GVRZE1-yyJeeEZmMMI4K9PnBpfsPxaT_K-eUc-srQN65s0jHo22oNEzGXMFRVCHGda0c2dZ5Q33EwIb642P4VWMiRfMeRjz_MYzGgBEuAO91bktTwZ1m2mUKsFtXj9EA4KDqiEDme3b-uNVwIhNDzXLWsqRHaI1fm3Q4B647VZjl3WAriUmZDKYbrArZSgs5fjGpA2y2R2y6qjJnhP-3Oq0u9rT3VJzPOgURT7B3ebYqrIi_q1g10LqME4fOeGwQ10W0H2jrJoe4iYG5RrZKWRZ_8GQ&smid=url-share)** > > The investment wave has the potential to drive a more rapid and efficient decarbonization of the economy while increasing the supply of clean energy. That’s an op-ed from someone who worked on it, so it’s not doubt skewed, but it’s pretty well sourced. Paul Krugman is also singing its praises for helping to get green energy up the curve. Maybe this goes to Biden not being a great communicator? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/59 "2023-06-01T18:40:40Z")
By the way, @HoneyBadgerDC, do you still feel this way?: > [@American conservatism has exhausted its credibility](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/american-conservatism-has-exhausted-its-credibility/920373/119): > > I am a conservative who sees Trump as a narcissistic idiot with a big mouth. I still can’t believe he was able to win over so many people. I made a huge miscalculation. As far as Republican values go, I see one type of republican on the news and a complete different type in my daily life. I really don’t know what to believe anymore. I know very few that are homophobic or racist. I use to be a lot more verbal talking against Trump but the loyalty to him is evident and I have recently dropped my association with the republican party. I need to figure out what party suits me. I have no problem with most issues of democrats I just feel most of them are grossly misrepresented and appeal too much to emotions. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859/60 "2023-06-01T18:51:55Z")
This sounds like a view of the presidency as inspirer and motivator-in-chief. IMO, it should be mostly about the decisions he’s made: for example, getting out of Afghanistan when it was increasingly clear we were accomplishing nothing and there was no hope of ever making long term change. That was a tough decision, and one that prior presidents hadn’t been willing to make, but he made it, and the situation since we left has just reinforced (IMO) how wise that was. I have trouble thinking of any major decisions he’s made that have been wrong. Presumably his long years of experience has contributed to his wisdom in making big decisions. What decisions of his do you see as, say, worse than GWB’s decision to invade Iraq, which got thousands and thousands of Americans killed, wasted trillions of dollars, killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and accomplished pretty much nothing positive for the US? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-just-me-or-is-president-biden-really-good-at-the-job/984859.md?page=4)