Joe Biden’s presidency is consequential. We know that. We see that. The 2023 GDP growth and job creation numbers coming in above estimates are more indicators of that. Add that to 13 million new jobs, lowering inflation, rising wages, avoiding a recession, and a renewed American presence on the world stage and yes, of course, Joe Biden’s presidency will be consequential in history.
But put aside the economic and foreign policy stuff: Joe Biden matters because Joe Biden is normal. And right now, America needs normal. Like, “America’s sweetheart falling in love with the football star” normal. Like “the guy in the White House has a name that’s synonymous with average” normal. America craves normal now more than ever.
Republicans are ridiculously overplaying their hand, thinking voters want chaos, uncertainty and unrest. Their quest to impeach… somebody… has proven to be such bad performance art Marjorie Taylor Greene is now the lead. The chaos in the House comes from the top down: any day now, the latest Speaker could be ousted because Matt Gaetz’s ego has an ouchie and he needs attention. About the only normal thing about the House GOP is their abnormality: it’s what we’ve come to expect over various sessions.
Joe Biden came into the Oval Office and acted like he’d been there before… because he had been. Both as Vice President and as Senator, Biden had been near the real reins of power for most of his adult life. (Face it, even as a lowly Senator, Biden had power. An average US Senator has more economic, military, and foreign policy influence than the heads of state of about 100 nations.) Biden understands he represents the United States, the metaphorical big kid on the block, not himself. Neither he nor the nation need to announce their presence; he doesn’t need to push his way to the front of the room. Everyone already knows he’s there because he’s the goddamn President of the United States. That’s normal.
Trump clearly had no grace or class. He was the guy who aggressively pushed to the front. He had to have his mere glance responded to with fawning. He expects it from the minions in his cult. You can see it at his shrinking rallies. And you can see it in his incomprehensible stream-of-consciousness on his failing social media platform.
Normal crosses racial, cultural, gender, and sexual orientation divides. Everyone has their own personal “normal.” My normal is different than my neighbor’s normal, and my neighbor’s normal is different than your normal. Your normal may be “mainlining Mountain Dew spiked with meth in the port-a-john in the Florida RV park as a sinkhole opens underfoot,” but it’s not “Donald Trump’s threatening to tear apart the fabric of our nation and I’m mainlining Mountain Dew spiked with meth in the port-a-john in the Florida RV park as a sinkhole opens underfoot.” No one needs that added complication in their lives.
We’ve lived with that complication hanging over us since 2016. For the last three years, we’ve had normalcy in the White House, and it’s been nice. (Breathe in. Breathe out.) Ah. Right now, the 2024 Presidential race is stark. It’s chaos versus normal.
Right now, “normal” looks really good: lowering inflation, rising stock market, strong jobs, rising wages, etc. And oh, yeah, no daily deluge of posts commenting on everything from a pop singer to a potential nuclear war with North Korea. In the end, the generation who grew up thinking it’s normal to always know who’s calling before answering–and who infamously won’t respond to pollsters–will determine who wins.