Occasionally, it is the small things that have great meaning. As a candidate, President Biden was not drawing large crowds. He was able to distract from that fact because the Covid Pandemic kept him in his bunker basement.
Now that he is President of the United States, one may think that he would have some box-office appeal. Apparently not much.
During his visit to Howell, Michigan, Biden held an outdoor speaking event. What a wonderful opportunity for the good folks of Howell to see and hear a President of the United States in person – maybe even get close to him.
Weeell … apparently the people of Howell were not impressed – underwhelmed, you might say.
For his public appearance Biden drew fewer than 50 curious on-lookers or devoted fans. I often draw more than 50 people when I give a speech – sometimes even an audience in the hundreds. Not often, but it does happen
So, why does Biden draw such abysmally small crowds? There may be a number of reasons.
- Maybe he does not want to have too many people in the audience. You know, the sort that may ask the tough questions the press refuses to ask? Maybe they want to avoid having unkind words – or even catcalls – ruining the video recordings.
- Maybe his handlers fear he will get into an ugly exchange with voters – as he was prone to do during the campaign.
- Maybe the host organization screwed up. They did not get the invitations out in time.
- Maybe there were ominous weather reports.
- Maybe Biden was late as usual – and most of the crowd departed before he could speak.
- Maybe most people are just not interested in hearing what he has to say.
Since this is by far not the first time that Biden spoke to small crowds, I assume number 5 might be the correct answer.
He is low on what I call the “title scale” – meaning that his presence does not make people tittle. After all, if you are going to meet the most powerful head-of-state in the world, you want to feel at least some level of titillation. With Biden, you get the impression that it would be less exciting than sitting next to the guy who regularly occupies the next seat at the local bar.
I know his crowd sizes are not the biggest issue with which we must deal – not by a long shot. But I do wonder what it is about Biden that creates such a low title level. Maybe it is because he does not appear to be the guy who is actually in charge. Maybe people are used to hearing Biden voiced by White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Maybe … maybe … maybe. Maybe readers can explain Biden’s lack of box-office appeal.
So, there ‘tis.