Why Joe Biden's popularity baffles the media and angers the opposition

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

I'm sure you all remember the endless media forays into so-called Trump country after the 2016 election to find out what "the country" was really thinking. The media were fascinated by the fact that Donald Trump managed to pull off his narrow electoral win in places none of them had ever been so they sent out intrepid reporters to rural towns and small cities in the rust belt to find out what Real Americans™️ were thinking. And they went back every few months for years to take the temperature of these folks who always said the same thing: they just loved Trump and supported him no matter what. Trump's supporters believed with all their hearts that everything the press reported about him was a lie and the whole country was really with them if only the media would tell the truth about it. After all, just about everyone they knew and everyone on Facebook were in total agreement.

-snip-

Robin Westcott remembers her joy when Joe Biden was elected last fall. Not only had Biden won with a narrow victory in Pennsylvania, but he also had carried Erie County, where Westcott has lived for most of her 62 years. Once reliably Democratic in presidential elections, the voters here in 2016 broke for Donald Trump — the first time they favored a Republican White House hopeful since Ronald Reagan in 1984. The county, which pokes out from the northwesternmost corner of the state and into Lake Erie, became something of a Rorschach test for the Rust Belt...

Nearly 100 days into the Biden presidency, voters who backed him in this political battleground-within-a battleground say they feel a sense of relief.

Or, as one man told NBC News pollsters last week:

"I don't have to think about what Joe Biden is doing every day," said a North Carolina man who voted for Biden. "The best thing about Joe Biden is I don't have to think about Joe Biden."

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/why-joe-bidens-popularity-baffles-the-media-and-angers-the-opposition/ar-BB1g4dac

Indeed. I remember waking many a morning during the last administration wondering "what stupid shit has Trump done or is going to do today?"

[qazplm135]

1. I watched the news daily under Trump

Now, barely at all. It's definitely a relief.

[iemitsu]

2. Keep watching. We aren't out of the woods yet.

[Caliman73]

15. True, but with Trump there was actually very little news, just drama.

Trump's strategy was always to be in the limelight. He would provoke a media cycle by saying something incredibly stupid. What he actually did was very little. Most people are aware of his propensity to watch television for much of the day. He would make executive orders once in a while, trying to destroy President Obama's legacy.

I do think that it is necessary to keep abreast of what is happening, but I think people are expressing relief that President Biden, like his former number 1 President Obama, are not mired in scandal and do not spew inane idiocies on a daily basis to where you both dread and cannot stop yourself from looking in the papers, online, or watching television to find out what fresh madness was just put out. Biden has been working hard behind the scenes to form coalitions and get things done. Things for which he is not seeking credit or recognition (as any sane politician would operate prior to Trump) but which will have a profound benefit for almost everyone in the country.

In an analogy for parents, Trump was like the toddler in his terrible 2's but with a propensity for arson. You can't sleep or relax because you are always worried about whether he is going to burn the house down. Biden is like an adult offspring, sure you worry because the world can be a difficult place, but you know that he is well raised and can take care of himself so you aren't up all night wondering if he is in trouble because he's responsible, wise, and consistent.

[iemitsu]

21. Yep. I agree.

[Shermann]

3. Politics are boring again! Yay! nt

[moonscape]

28. The near opposite happened for me. During 45

I had to go on back-outs every so often where I walled myself off from news entirely for mental health. One of them lasted 6 weeks! Now, it’s safer to watch news again though the voter suppression bills across the country are provoking that same anxiety.

[Arkansas Granny]

4. I had a conversation this weekend about this very thing. We don't have to worry every day if our

President is going to make some off the wall statement that embarrasses our country, inflames our allies or congratulates some type of criminal activity. Things are getting done quietly and efficiently by a decent man who has the best interests of our nation at heart.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

29. "a decent man"

Arkansas Granny, those three words say it all.

Trump was a malignant narcissist who only cared about himself.

President Biden cares about America and his citizens. And he doesn't mind sharing or passing on the credit/praise for doing a good job in governing and leading our country. He realizes it isn't all about him and he's fine with that.

[PortTack]

5. Why should it baffle the media? Unless they see themselves as doing everything they can to

Undermine him and can’t figure out why it isn’t working!!

Jerks!!

[Kaleva]

6. It's an opinion piece. Body of article really doesn't support the headline.

[Martin68]

30. Exactly. The media are actually as relived as the rest of us that an adult is in charge. Trump was

encouraging the assault of journalists. Journalists understand that. The "media" is not our enemy, the right wing is. Try to get your priorities straight.

[ancianita]

7. It only "baffles" those who try to profit from injustice, conflict and the Four Horsemen.

Media and the opposition need to get used to conveying the good news of what SCIENCE is doing, what INNOVATIONS are coming out, what gene-editing CURES are rolling out, what INTERNATIONAL PROJECTS are building neighborliness.

Media and the opposition need to get used to reading.
Fran Liebowitz says, "Think before you speak. Read before you think."

[MoriaeEncomium]

13. Agree! And it's encouraging to find that

. . .if you look, some promising things are happening!

[SoonerPride]

8. Where are the reporters asking to talk daily to BIDEN voters?

And how we feel?

And how things are going?

fuck the media

[ancianita]

17. +1000

[mahina]

22. Right?

[Blue Owl]

9. What a relief to have the big fat piece of shit flushed away

Joe is crushing it!

[lame54]

10. They always have the border "crisis" to mis-report

[Caliman73]

16. 2 reasons...

1. Conflict sells. People don't turn to the news to find out that everything is "normal" and things are going well. They want to read about drama, so the news will cater to the dramatic. A "border crisis" is much more appealing to "the seasonal influx of immigrants fleeing during the midst of hurricane season and amid economic problems in their countries caused by the legacy of colonialism and interference from the US in their politics and economies". That last statement, which encapsulates some of the factors that lead to immigration, is dense and complicated, but "BORDER CRISIS" conjures emotion.

2. They are afraid of being called "biased". If they reported on Biden's lack of serious crisis, after spending the last 4 years (especially year 4) reporting on the devastated economy and loss of over half a million Americans, the right wing would invariably call "biased reporting" and accuse the media of being an "arm of the Democrat party" (just like that too). Media is scared to death about being called out on cooperating with liberals so, they cooperate with right wing propagandists instead, because liberals don't tend to shout out "FAKE NEWS" and play the refs like conservatives do. While we can see and we do call out the quantifiable bias in terms of hours of coverage of conservatives over liberal politicians, we don't play dirty like conservatives. We also lack our own billionaires to push out liberal or left wing propaganda so we are stuck with journalism that tries to be objective while the right wing aggressively pushes their own agenda into the news cycle.

[Maeve]

11. I literally danced in the street when the election was finally called for Biden

Went over to make sure my progressive neighbors had heard the good news and danced on the way and back again.

Good thing it's a quiet street...

[Deep State Witch]

12. Joe Could Ride In On A Unicorn

And poop rainbows, and 40% of the electorate would hate him because he isn't the Orange Anus.

[Harker]

25. Now if he rode in on a rainbow and pooped a unicorn...

that might make news.

[SergeStorms]

14. Every day of the "other guy's" administration...

was a carnival sideshow. Each day they trotted out a new pin headed geek, a new "300 lb. Man Eating Chicken", a new bearded lady. It was a freak show, and some people watched merely for the entertainment value. Others, like myself and my friends, watched just to keep tabs on the various atrocities and criminal behavior of those in "his" family and administration. It was fucking horrible!

Having Joe Biden and Kamala Harris in power is a breath of fresh air. We don't have to watch everything they do with a scanning electron microscope, because they're adults, they're honest, they're SANE!

Fuck Trump, fuck OAN, fuck FOX, fuck every single fucking republican, and fuck the simple minded shits that believe those fucking liars.

[betsuni]

18. The only-Trump-had-lower-approval-rating-than-Biden coverage makes me angry.

"Thanks, Biden" begins. Everything will be his fault and coverage always passive-aggressively negative. I should be grateful that Republican obstruction is at least mentioned sometimes. They'll never actually cover it.

[BobTheSubgenius]

19. For the first time in recent history, something replaces the economy as the #1 issue for voters.

Obviously, that's COVID. Ridiculous claims to the contrary, the Previous Guy was doing an abysmal job of saving the life of the country, let alone "managing" the pandemic. During the campaign, Mr. Biden made an ambitious, but possible promise - 100M vaccinations in 100 days...then beat the brakes off it.

People see progress, PLUS the rarest of all things, a candidate that keeps and exceeds a MAJOR campaign promise. Add to that the fact that the economy has not tanked, President Biden is an affable guy, and is well-liked both at home and abroad.

Is that enough to add up to a higher-than-expected approval rating? IMO, it should be higher still.

[Cha]

20. "The media" is too easily "baffled". it

would help them if they stuck to Reality and forgot their damn manufacturing and manipulation.

[Demovictory9]

23. Yes! I dont fear that Biden has.minions secretly working on plan to gut civil rights

[Marcuse]

24. "Man bites dog" journalism sells. No one can turn away from a car crash.

[packman]

26. "The best thing about Joe Biden is I don't have to think about Joe Biden."

And that'll do it for me too.

[Martin68]

27. The media I read are not baffled by Biden's popularity. On the contrary, they've done an excellent

job of explaining why Biden is so popular, and how smart he's been in his dealings with the GOP. But then, I don't watch TV, so I can't speak for their attitude towards Biden.

[Rocknation]

31. This was orginally published by Salon? Consider the source!

Last edited Fri May 7, 2021, 03:38 PM - Edit history (1)

In a review of a book they admit hasn't been read, they theorized that Biden's win was a matter of luck:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=15224407


Rocknation