The Biden Administration is borrowing from the Obama Administration playbook.
It’s not about the President. It’s about the CITIZEN.
Citizens want to hear that their elected officials are listening to them. Elected officials concentrate more on KEEPING their power and less on listening. This goes for both sides of the political aisle.
Did Trump truly listen to ALL American citizens? The answer that I observed is no. Not in public, he did not. He believed in entertaining the citizen more so than governing. His tweets became performances. His rallies provided him a stage. And the climax to his presidential story ended in a second impeachment.
Citizens love a good story–but they also want a good president who listens when they need him/her to do so. COVID-19 is the time that we needed strong leadership. Over 400,000 deaths and pleas for financial help have been lost on deaf ears since early 2020.
To truly listen, you must also engage–and anticipate the response from your audience. What do you want them to respond with? A difference of opinion is healthy to build new ideas and to reform long-held ideologies.
The Biden Administration will spin–but their spin on issues and their agenda will be much different the last four years. Each administration has an agenda that they sell us to buy into with our vote. We bought into Biden’s goal to bring civility and respect back between the White House and the President.
Let us at all times remember that all American citizens are brothers of a common country and should dwell together in the bonds of fraternal feeling.
Abraham Lincoln November 20, 1860
The citizen-centric rhetoric began on Inauguration Day. The executive orders that President Biden signed signaled to all that all Americans would become important on day one.
After taking the oath of office this afternoon, I got right to work taking action to:
– Control the pandemic
– Provide economic relief
– Tackle climate change
– Advance racial equity
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 20, 2021
In President Biden’s Inauguration speech- Biden wants everyone to know he is not thinking about the power of the office but of the possibilities that WE can be together.
I give you my word: I will always level with you.
I will defend the Constitution, our democracy, and America.
And I will give my all in your service thinking not of power, but of possibilities. pic.twitter.com/8fbFUjzVZu
— President Biden (@POTUS) January 22, 2021
Even Dan Rather noticed the difference in the rhetorical tone.
This is exactly what I expected to happen in the Biden Administration. Jen Psaki already engaging with citizens by answering questions sent in over Twitter. This type of engagement won’t cure the divisiveness, but it can help humanize the presidency and the people who work there.
The President is not unlike us. Yes, he may have a Rolex. Yes, he may have a Peloton (which is not that out of reach for any of us to purchase). Biden is in his late 70s–I think he can afford all those things because he worked HARD for those things. He earned the right to wear a Rolex with no shame. Criticisms like these tell me that people have a hard time trying to find something to criticize Biden for.
These videos that I’m sure will be plentiful during the Biden Administration are fun. We all love a behind the scenes glance at a new Administration.
When people are transparent, it’s a good thing.
Positve rhetoric for the public good is back and will only get stronger as time goes by with a President whose rhetoric is for us and not against us.
Last week I asked you for your questions and you delivered. Answered a bunch here – and looking forward to doing this again soon. SPOILER: Revealing @POTUS‘ favorite ice cream 🍦 pic.twitter.com/DtAXZZGFdR
— Jen Psaki (@PressSec) January 24, 2021
