This spring, protests spun out of control on college campuses across the country, disrupting graduation ceremonies and exposing the corruption of higher education. How the protests emerged may not be Joe Biden’s fault. But it fits with life under his administration. The Biden presidential brand is a life beyond his control, and that doesn’t bode well for his reelection prospects.
Throughout history, people have liked strong leaders. Winston Churchill was strong-willed during World War II. Alexander the Great was a man of great character who is said to have never lost a battle until he had built one of the world’s largest empires by the age of 30.
With just months to go until the 2024 election, things appear to be spinning out of control for Biden.
In American history, George Washington was a model of ethics and determination who took on Britain, the world’s superpower at the time. Abraham Lincoln’s determination and strength saved the Union, and Americans elected Franklin Roosevelt as president four times, believing he could best lead the country through the Great Depression and World War II.
Strength and determination were their brand.
Weakness, on the other hand, is unacceptable to American voters.
In the 1980 presidential election, voters had to choose between incumbent Jimmy Carter and challenger Ronald Reagan. At the time, voters did not view Carter as a strong leader.
By the time of the 1980 election, Americans had been held hostage by Iran for a year.
Official History“This crisis was dominated by headlines and news, making the administration appear weak and ineffective.”
Carter’s economic record wasn’t much better either.
Federal Reserve Board Report By the summer of 1980, inflation was approaching 14.5% and unemployment was over 7.5%, while 30-year fixed mortgage rates reached 12.9%.
As a result, voters looked to Reagan for a new direction, and in time, his policy accomplishments and his dealings with the Soviet Union stood in stark contrast to Carter’s weaknesses.
All of this brings us to Biden, for whom things seem to be spinning out of control with just months to go until the 2024 election.
Inflation continues to plague Americans, with prices now 20% higher than when Biden took office. Expectations of interest rate cuts have been dashed by persistent inflation.
In American cities, crime has made the streets dangerous, public transportation overcrowded, and the rise in homelessness has reinforced the perception that urban life in America is not only dangerous, but also completely lacking in order.
Of course, America’s borders are out of control, too. Americans watch every night on their televisions and cell phones as millions of people cross the border with little to no end, including hundreds of people designated as terrorists. Meanwhile, fentanyl-related deaths are a scourge, a crisis that demands leadership to end it.
Abroad, Americans are once again being held hostage in the Middle East. Two wars are putting the world at risk, neither of which seems likely to be resolved anytime soon.
Russia has invaded Ukraine under the Biden administration, but there is no evidence that American influence will settle the issue, as it did in World War I and World War II. In the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea, Houthi rebels, hardly a superpower, regularly attack U.S. and allied ships and cargo vessels with no end in sight.
These issues have dogged the Biden administration almost from the beginning: Poll after poll shows Americans view Biden as a weak leader, a perception that has been greatly exacerbated by issues related to his age.
Then, earlier this spring, campus protests erupted, leaving many to wonder why something like this is happening in the U.S. Most want the protests to die down, as they are expected to bring about a repeat of the 2020 riots in the summer.
These protests began in an atmosphere of skyrocketing crime and people not being held accountable, and the longer the protests continue, the more Americans become convinced that they are part of a larger problem in America – part of a society that is spinning out of control.
For Biden, this is consistent with the perception that he is a president out of control – he is at the mercy of events, with no plan for how to fix them – and the campus protests reinforce the image of his weak leadership.
It will soon be known whether Biden’s brand will send him to the same fate as Jimmy Carter, but such brands rarely fade in the short term, especially when the events that defined his brand continue without a plan to end them.
