Grading the Biden Presidency (Communications)

 

 

GRADING THE BIDEN PRESIDENCY:
COMMUNICATIONS

This may seem an odd issue to grade, but it’s vitally important. No agenda can advance without effective communications.

Unfortunately, this has been the worst presidency in my lifetime on communications–and yes, that includes the Nixon years, which were the lowest benchmark of failure when it comes to political PR.
Presidents and their surrogates must sell an agenda. Think of FDR’s fireside chats or JFK’s challenging America to reach for the moon. That’s effective communication. President Biden was embarrassingly un-persuasive for most of his term. His lack of persuasion and failure to “sell” his agenda to the American public resulted in plunging approval ratings which remained stagnant in the mid-30s (which means about a quarter of Democrats disapproved).

Perhaps these failures were due in part to Biden’s advanced age, and his obvious decline over time while in office. Nonetheless, few of Biden’s many speeches were memorable, nor impactful. After sweeping into office as the face and voice of transition to a new generation, as his presidency entered a third and fourth year, he often spoke and looked like an obstacle from the past rather than a reliable leader for America’s future.

Then, there was the debacle of deciding to run for re-election, which backfired and probably ended up dragging the entire Democratic ticket in the 2024 election (more on this to come).

Aside from a few effective communicators (Pete Buttigieg was arguably the Biden Administration’s best spokesperson), the Biden team lacked any stars and lost the communications war — badly so.

One More Thought: Previously, I considered Marlin Fitzwater and Dana Perino to be the worst White House Press Secretaries I’ve seen, but Karin Jean-Pierre who served Biden in that position was worse.

Grade: 1 (on a 1-10 scale)

5/11