Lately in this year of 2024, things have gone kaboom for super-ambitious Joe Biden even though it was just a few years ago in his virtual half-century in politics that he was elected president. It was at least partly because he and his multiple faults hid out in a basement by way of quiet campaigning, just as his trouble now is that some of those faults are out in the open.
Yes, it’s true that the COVID outbreak could have made open-air hustle and bustle dangerous to Biden’s health as well as to his reputation through more action in tune with his character. After all, he had to drop out of one of his previous presidential campaigns because of plagiarism attempting to convey exceptionalism. Having him stay relatively quiet and pretty much out of sight, on the other hand, seemed to further the impression of a moderate, thoughtful, calm, cool guy.
It also helped that he was running against Donald Trump. Here, after all, was a love-him-or-hate-him demagogue who was loved by enough voters to break voting records in all past presidential races and hated by enough contrary voters for Biden to get even more votes, winning the race. The fear lately has been that the choice of either one of these men as president this year could be a national disaster.
As president, Biden has been hiding out a lot in the Oval Office and his home in Delaware instead of a basement, holding fewer press conferences than any president in years, for instance, even though the few glances at him have revealed a lot.