David Rothkopf: “Joe [Biden]’s too old. Joe’s too boring…Joe’s…just off to the best start of any POTUS in more than half a century”

This is a superb thread by David Rothkopf about how Joe Biden in 2020 “was second guessed by many” as not “exciting,” “too old school,” etc. Then, after he was elected, he was “derided for reaching out to the other side, for his compromises with the left or with the centrists in his own party, for not be exciting enough.” Fortunately, Biden “ignored the Beltway buzz. He did the dullest thing imaginable: he governed.” The result? Huge accomplishments, including:

• Passing the American Rescue Plan (“lifted millions out of poverty and helped stimulate a job boom that now has produced 10 million jobs, a record, more than the last three GOP administrations added up”
• “Record number of quality judges were appointed.”
• “Executive orders undid Trump’s damage.“
• “He made the bold decision to end America’s longest war.“
• “He passed the largest piece of infrastructure legislation in half a century.”
• “He helped tame a pandemic.“
• “When Putin challenged the decency and the West in Ukraine, Biden led and has been central to NATO and global support for Kyiv that has produced extraordinary results and made all safer. It was all part of restoring American standing worldwide.”
• “He and a disciplined Democratic Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act that also was the biggest piece of environmental legislation in US history. He took steps to reduce healthcare costs for Americans even when zero Republicans supported it.”
• “In fact, with few exceptions, the Democrats passed a rich agenda, that also included the important Chips and Science Act that will help the country compete and create more and better jobs in the future, in the face of constant GOP obstruction.”
• “Biden was too busy focusing on democracy and protecting the fundamental rights of women and voters when, the GOP talking heads and the bogus polls said what was front and center was inflation and only that and the Dems were doomed.”
• And Biden achieved “the best result for a new president in a midterm election in sixty years, maybe longer. The Democrats held the Senate. It is still unclear how many seats they will lose in the House…In fact, it is still possible that the Ds could hold the House, still possible the Dem margin in the Senate could be better than it was.”
• Bottom line: People can say “Joe’s too old. Joe’s too boring. Joe’s too quick to compromise. Joe’s too stubborn. Joe’s out of touch.” But “Joe’s…just off to the best start of any POTUS in more than half a century.”
• “Common sense is not exciting. But what we just saw was a victory for common sense. Decency doesn’t drive clicks. But what you just saw was a victory for decency. Governing is tedious, incremental, arcane. But what you have seen for two years are the benefits of governing.”