Many voters blame Biden for the state of the nation, but reality suggests otherwise

Outsized expectations and limits of presidential power collide

According to a recent New York Times/Siena College poll, 64 percent of Democrats would prefer that President Biden not seek re-election in 2024. Even more disconcerting is that in the same survey, 94 percent of all voters under 30 think that Biden should not be the party's standard-bearer. All of this begs the question of how things turned so negatively and so quickly for the President.

One of the problems which would be faced by anyone occupying the Oval Office is that most Americans are woefully oblivious to how government actually functions. If asked, most of this nation's electorate would not want to be ruled by a king or autocrat, but ironically believe that presidents have similar power and authority that will allow them to implement discretionary policies and laws.

In a 2021 survey conducted by the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania as part of its Annual Civics Survey, it was found that only 56 percent of Americans can name all three branches of government. While that is a shockingly depressing number, it has risen by 23 percent since 2006. According to the center's director, Kathleen Hall-Jamieson, “Divided government, the impeachment process, and the number of times political leaders have turned to the courts probably deserve credit for increasing awareness of the three branches."

Yet given that improvement, most Americans remain ill-informed as to the workings of each arm of our government. Over the last year, I've had numerous discussions with colleagues and friends that fixated on their concerns over "what Joe Biden should be doing." Regardless of the issue, all felt strongly that the President wasn't meeting the moment and that he should be doing more. When pressed as to what he should be addressing specifically, most had either no answer or if they did, the suggested action wasn't within Biden's constitutional authority.

The President entered office in the middle of a global pandemic, which triggered unprecedented pressures on the world's economy. During this period, vulnerabilities in the supply chain led to product shortages and strains on businesses and consumers internationally. Add to this complex set of circumstances a war in Europe and the disruptions in food and energy exports that have resulted from it, inflation, threats of domestic terrorism, a crisis at the southern border, an alarming increase in gun violence, and an activist and recalcitrant Supreme Court, all of which are enough to adversely impact the popularity of any chief executive.

In addition, pro-choice activists are demanding that Biden act with more urgency in the wake of the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v Wade. Supporters of voting rights are pressuring the President to devise a plan that would get rid of the filibuster, and gun control and safety advocates want Biden to be more aggressive as well. Given all of this let's keep several things in perspective. While a president can offer recommendations about proposals that he or she believes should be enacted into law, no executive can make laws just like they can't decide how federal money will be spent, interpret laws or choose cabinet members and supreme court members without Senate approval.

There are also those who believe that Biden should address these policy efforts that have been stymied by Congress or the courts through the use of Executive Orders. According to Sharece Thrower, Assistant Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University, "Presidents have long interpreted the Constitution’s Article 2 clauses – like “the executive power shall be vested in a President” and “he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed” – to give them total authority to enforce the law through the executive branch, by any means necessary."

Executive orders are essentially written decrees that direct agencies on how to implement a law, not make law. Every president has used them to varying degrees. So far President Biden has issued 92 in his initial term, including nine on his first day in office. Executive orders allow Presidents to make policy outside of the legislative process. However, there are limitations. Congress can pass a new law to override an executive order, although it could be subject to a presidential veto. If funding is required, Congress could use its "Power of the Purse" to thwart its implementation and an executive order could also be overturned by the courts. Its use is no cure-all for congressional gridlock and dysfunction or divided government.

So, with roughly two and a half years before Inauguration Day in January of 2025, a majority of voters and registered Democrats want Biden to ride off into the sunset and make way for a younger and more vigorous leader. Didn't they realize that he was old in 2020 and that he was about as inspiring as Richard Nixon and both Bush 41 and 43? Have they already taken for granted that after five years of chaos, we actually have a competent Administration? Say what you will, but Biden has successfully steered us through a myriad of complicated plights, not of his own making.

These same voters seem to forget the money that was deposited in the bank accounts of millions of individuals and businesses during the Pandemic and how effectively the vaccine rollout was given its enormity and scale. They are no longer impressed with how he and his team, reconstituted a fractured NATO which has emerged stronger than ever. They've also decided to ignore the fact that the job market has never been better. Yes, we have inflation, but at a rate that is the lowest among developed nations. He also proposed a series of groundbreaking legislative initiatives that are literally two Democratic votes away from being enacted.

I for one never thought that Biden would run for re-election. I viewed his affirmative pronouncements as a smokescreen intended to ensure that his legislative and policy agendas would not be subverted by being perceived as a lame duck. My thought was that he would keep grinding until mid-2023 at which point he would announce his intention not to run and pave the way for Vice President Harris to make her case and allow other interested candidates to test the waters. But as always, unlike Republicans instead of building up support on behalf of their guy during a difficult period in history, Democrats take shots, which won't help him or them in their individual races.

Instead of focusing on what they perceive as Biden's inadequacies and what in their view he's not doing, Democrats should be laser-focused on crafting arguments aimed at voters beyond the Democratic base in 2022. This is the most pivotal mid-term election in the lifetime of most Americans. The party should also be conducting intensive education endeavors stressing the importance of off-year elections to voters who for whatever reason only show up during the presidential cycle.  One thing is for certain, whether Biden runs or not in 2024, Democrats will find something else to launch an internal squabble. I hope that the Vice President has her armor ready. If Biden is out of the way, she becomes the target, and the one thing Democrats do well is bloody one of their own.