Joe Biden's hokey virtue signaling is good politics
Sometimes, virtue signaling is good.
During Thursday night's presidential debate, amid dueling accusations of personal and familial corruption between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden, Biden tried to steer the conversation back to the ostensible reason Americans were watching the debate in the first place: To see which candidate would serve their needs and desires best.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
It was a great line. Somewhat astonishingly, though, Trump mocked Biden for this assertion. "Typical politician," he grumbled.
Trump wasn't actually wrong. Politicians have been invoking a mythical family making decisions around a dinner table almost since dinner tables were invented. It's a well-worn, even hokey trope that The Simpsons once satirized memorably.
But some tropes are valuable, venerable traditions. By invoking the dinner table, Biden was reminding Americans that governing is more than scandal-mongering, navel gazing and trying to win the day on Fox News. It is about creating the conditions for citizens to survive and even thrive, both as individuals and as a broader community. We vote for candidates — not for them to serve themselves, but to serve us.
Trump suggested that he became president because of his refusal to invoke the dinner table. "I'm not a typical politician," he said. But "typical" is sometimes another word for "normal" — and Biden's chief selling point in this campaign has been a return to normalcy. If the polls are any indication, a lot of Americans are sitting around their dinner tables hoping for just that.
-
The ‘ravenous’ demand for Cornish mineralsUnder the Radar Growing need for critical minerals to power tech has intensified ‘appetite’ for lithium, which could be a ‘huge boon’ for local economy
-
Why are election experts taking Trump’s midterm threats seriously?IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the president muses about polling place deployments and a centralized electoral system aimed at one-party control, lawmakers are taking this administration at its word
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
