Why do you vote for a political candidate? It’s about issues: gun control, racism, health care, abortion, social security, foreign policy … the list is long in our modern world. We (obviously) want politicians who will fight for the things we want and believe in.
But there is something that is far more important, something we should demand of every politician: Competence. The person we elect should be able to do the job. And it turns out that’s a skill that’s surprisingly hard to come by.
The job of the President of the United States is phenomenally complex, far more difficult that most of us can imagine. Virtually all of the issues that make it to the President’s desk are challenging, intertwined, confusing, and contradictory. They are made worse by other foreign and domestic leaders who are egotistical, foolish, and sometimes megalomaniacs, and who run their own complex countries, states, and cities with varying degrees of incompetence.
Let’s take just one simple example: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Oh, wait. I’m being told we can’t do that. Apparently the war in Ukraine is really complex. It’s tied in with NATO membership, which is being held hostage by Turkish President Erdoğan’s right-wing anti-democracy plans. Then there’s China’s premiere Xi Jinping’s admiration for Putin’s autocracy, which means Taiwan’s fate could be tied to Ukraine’s, but Xi can’t afford to be the target of more US economic sanctions so who knows what he’ll do. Sanctioning Russian oligarchs has proved extremely difficult because they’ve erected a complex financial network that protects their investments in, among other things, US real-estate. And Iran, the pariah of the Middle East, is happy to accept Putin’s financial support and sell him drones, but Iran is also reeling under the severe US/EU sanctions against its nuclear programs that are crippling its economy, not to mention the massive civilian protests against the oppressive Iranian theocracy that may bring down its government, which could hurt Russia’s ability to attack Ukrainian cities. Then there are global supply-chain problems caused by the war that are disrupting the whole world economy, along with the converse supply-chain problems that limit the US/UK/EU’s ability to build and deliver bullets and mortar shells and tanks. The demand for oil in India, along with strongman Narendra Modi, who himself craves power and autocracy, is significantly weakening US economic sanctions against Russia and has badly strained US/India ties. And then there’s South America’s dependence on Russian oil, and Africa’s revulsion of Europe’s colonialism that is driving them to Russian assistance. Virtually the whole world is involved with the war, and will be part of the eventual peace agreement.
And if that isn’t enough, President Biden is probably consulting with psychologists, sociologists, historians, and his military to try to calculate just how quickly and how hard he can push Putin without risking a nuclear response, while at the same time delivering sufficient military, financial, and moral support to prevent Putin from taking over Ukraine and eventually a number of other formerly-Soviet countries.
When Joe Biden took over the presidency and reports started emerging of the damage Trump had left behind, I was shocked and frightened at how severely Trump’s team had vandalized our government. Whole departments had been virtually destroyed: the State Department, Transportation, the FCC, Homeland Security, the White House science team, the EPA … almost every department of our government had been beheaded or corrupted. Those that weren’t gutted at the top had their directors replaced with Bannon-approved vandals whose mission was to destroy the very agencies they were supposed to lead.
It took Joe Biden and his team nearly two years to restore the federal government to a semblance of normalcy, and the effort is ongoing.
It was Donald Trump’s sheer stupidity that led to this. His staff wasn’t stupid; quite the contrary. Trump’s “minions” were actually clever puppeteers playing Trump for the fool. People like Steve Bannon had plans to decimate the government, and they knew how to play Trump’s ego, weaknesses, and ignorance to get themselves into power. Once in power, they got no resistance from the President as they took a wrecking ball to his government … because Donald Trump had no idea how our government works, and no appreciation for how much he was weakening America. It was above and beyond his ability to comprehend.
In other words, governing the country is not just complex, it’s massively complex. The United States’ response to Putin can only be handled by a competent person, one with brains, common sense, and decades of experience, who is also assisted by a staff of thousands of other equally competent people.
And this is just one of many hundreds of equally complex issues that face President Biden every single day, each of which can only be solved by a competent government and a competent President.
Joe Biden is such a president. I don’t like all of Biden’s policies; far from it. He’s a moderate liberal whereas I tend to be more in the Bernie camp on most issues. But Biden has demonstrated incredible and admirable competence since taking over the government.
What are these qualities that make a person qualified to be President?
- Smart enough to understand incredibly complex issues
- Decades of government experience
- Well educated in US and world history
- Deep understanding of current world events, politics, and personalities
- Understands the United States Constitution and federal law
- Understands the roles of state governments
- Knows what the branches of government are and how they interact, their proper roles
- Well versed in the workings of Congress, understands politics, compromise, and pressure tactics
- Good sense of public opinion, what will play well and what will be badly received (independent of what he personally believes)
- Knows his own branch and departments (Treasury, Labor, Justice, FCC, FDA, etc.), what they do, and how they interact
- Has the support and respect of his/her party and of the opposition
Joe Biden is facing one of the oddest statistics in presidential history: He is unpopular even in his own party, yet in terms of actual achievements, he has been one of the most effective presidents in modern history (in the face of staggering political vandalism from Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republicans). Some historians already rank his successes among the top of all presidencies: the bipartisan infrastructure package, the American Rescue Plan that put 500 million vaccinations into the arms of Americans, a $370 billion investment in climate change, the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, child poverty cut in half, the lowest unemployment rates in modern history, very adeptly managed the US response to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and rebuilt a government that his predecessor had nearly destroyed … and much, much more.
On top of that, he recruited some of the best and most experienced minds in the country to his staff. Because one of the traits of a great leader is that they’re not afraid of competent subordinates.
Why this huge disparity between popularity and achievements? Because most Americans don’t understand just how hard the job is, and therefore don’t realize how good Joe Biden is at it.
It’s a terrible irony that the very complexity of the job of President means most people can’t even judge whether the President is doing it well or badly.
Competence is the first requirement to get my vote, and Joe Biden has passed this test.
Image: Joe Biden and Olivia Rodrigo, public domain
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