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When Sen. Bernie Sanders speculated that the Israeli-Hamas war represented President Joe Biden's "Vietnam," he was not just referencing foreign policy. Sanders also was hinting that Old Joe propelled himself into uncertain political waters. Students were demonstrating against what they considered a moral affront, that could not easily be made to go away by the cancellation of college debts. Biden is stuck, as Pete Seeger would put it, in the "big muddy."
As with Lyndon Johnson in 1968, Biden is a consensus politician that is faced with having to deal with knotty problems. LBJ, a superb legislator, had real problems with those who regularly called him a war criminal during the actual Vietnam War. Moreover, like Biden, he endured campus rebellion, not just concerning the war but civil rights. Like Johnson, Biden probably cringes when he hears himself referred to as "Genocide Joe." Nothing in his previous political life prepared him for this.
Johnson and Biden both were creatures of the U.S. Senate. LBJ served as majority leader from 1955-1961 and then became vice president under John F. Kennedy. Before that, Johnson served in the House of Representatives -- in other words, Washington, D.C. was literally his home. Biden, at age 29, was elected in an upset victory in 1971, the year Democrats were smashed by Richard Nixon. Immediately, Biden became a favorite of the old Senate establishment, partially due to the death of his wife and daughter, coupled with the near-death of his two sons, but mainly because he was one of them.
With Biden you never had to wonder whether or not he was a radical. In his taste and demeanor, he was strictly mainstream. He supported the Vietnam War. Biden was frozen in place in the world of his parents Although born in 1942, Biden's tastes were shaped in that era. He is a conformist to the marrow.
Indeed, he must be unnerved by Republicans who refer to him as a "Communist." Now that's gratitude for you. After all, Biden supported Clarence Thomas' nomination to the Supreme Court, shunned and derided Anita Hill and supported all of George W. Bush's "Forever Wars." Biden was a Social Security and Great Society benefits liberal, if you can call him that, all the while being a staunch supporter of Delaware's business establishment. He was as "radical" as a Dairy Queen cone and just about as exciting. Over the years, he honed this act to include consensus policies such as unconditional support for the military.
Biden is not better than even money against Donald Trump, chiefly because he now wrestles with hot button issues. In 2020, he was elected essentially in a non-campaign of social distancing and masks. Despite defeats in Iowa and New Hampshire, Biden won South Carolina and the media, ignoring the first two losses, went into anointment mode. Like LBJ after JFK's assassination, he simply could not lose to the likes of Barry Goldwater and Donald Trump.
For Biden, 2024 is a bit different in that he is in territory that is not inviting. In an era of highly charged moral issues -- the politics of the fixer is inadequate if Biden is to emerge victorious.