Is it a bad thing if a president doesn't inspire passionate devotion?
I didn’t want this to just be about Biden but also looking forward to future presidents. A criticism of Biden is that no one is passionate about him; he doesn’t have “followers”. Is that a bad thing, though? Was Trump’s “cult of personality”, was the fact that Trump supporters stormed the Capitol “for him” or the fact that Trump supporters take criticism of Trump as a personal attack on themselves a good thing?
Before I get the usual evisceration, I’m not saying Biden is wonderful and presidents should be bland and uninspiring. But do we really want leaders that inspire the kind of devotion that Trump did, after what happened?
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Trump inspired uncritical and unquestioning obedience. That’s far different than passionate devotion.
I have never been passionate about any politician ,there have been some I liked but that is about it.
@SQUEEKY2 Nor have I. I observed much fawning over Obama, but a lot of it was idealistic and prior to the election. The devotion to Trump seems new to me; the personal identification with him seems new.
I agree, new and a bit disgusting as they can’t see what a freaking liar the guy is.
On the other hand, I think it would for some extend be better if the general public doesn’t have too much expectation for the president. That way, there would be less disappointment because there is just no expectation in the first place. I’ve seen people saying Obama over-promised but under-delivered so too much hype could be a bad thing. And besides, without “fans”, the president has to work extra hard to win the public’s trust, which could lead to better results.
Some people gush over Obama. There was no President that, to me, was inspiring passionate devotion. To me, no President is perfect, no President does everything for everybody, and as far as their appearances go, no President was what I would consider gorgeous, and no First Lady was what I would consider gorgeous. Melania was beautiful but appeared to be an ice box.
I agree with you for once. The cult of Trump was very destructive and it’s fine if Biden doesn’t inspire that kind of blindness.
After the last 4 years, I prefer a bland president that does his job and doesn’t have to have attention 24–7.
I’m delighted with calm reassurance. Joe Biden isn’t a boy-band, and I don’t need to have a crush on him.
I’d prefer a passionate leader myself. Like Obama with more backbone. Just like many, I believed in him and trusted him to do his best.
Any anti-establishment politician will be popular to some, its part of Bernie’s mass appeal, too. I hope I live to see a third party in power.
It is hard to get worked up about someone who stands for the status quo, at least the way it was before Trump. Everything about Biden screams mediocrity. There is nothing wrong with this, but it would be nice to have someone who is more visionary, with a plan to get excited about.
I would agree that a more visionary, passionate leader is ideal, but I wonder how it could be avoided that the followers become devoted and subservient to said leader, even if the leader has become corrupt and deranged. Maybe it’s human nature and there’s no way to avoid it. I like to think that even if I admired and supported a passionate visionary leader, I would not become part of a personality cult and would call them out if they started going down the wrong path, but who knows. Some of us may be more susceptible to their influence than others.
@Demosthenes My comment above should have been addressed to you.
I do not think it is necessarily a bad thing.
@LostInParadise He may not be a visionary but he is jumping in with both feet to the mess he was left and working hard at solving problems. And I would dispute that he’s not a visionary – he appointed the first Native American to the Interior Department and is planning to revamp immigration policy. The first transgender and gay people to top Federal posts. And a major Federal roll out of the vaccination program is pretty positive.
Politics is the art of the possible and he is not charismatic but I am happy with his initiatives so far.
I’m sure there will be plenty I’ll criticize in the years to come but I am so happy to have adults in charge again.
What makes, Trump, Hitler, Stalin, Putin, so attractive to people that they become so devoted to them that they would kill their own family if it was asked of them?
@janbb , I don’t mean to criticize Biden. If we look at the presidency as a job, then I am sure he will be adequate, which is more than can be said of his predecessor. I do not expect any dramatic changes. The appointment of members of various minority groups is a perfectly fine thing to do, but we will have to see if it is any more than tokenism.
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