It took three reporters at the New York Times to tell us:
As Mr. Biden settles into the office he has chased for more than three decades, aides say he demands hours of debate from scores of policy experts.
...“He has a kind of mantra: ‘You can never give me too much detail,’” Mr. Sullivan said.
Quick decision-making is not Mr. Biden’s style. His reputation as a plain-speaking politician hides a more complicated truth. Before making up his mind, the president demands hours of detail-laden debate from scores of policy experts, taking everyone around him on what some in the West Wing refer to as his Socratic “journey” before arriving at a conclusion...
Really?
...Mr. Biden is gripped by a sense of urgency that leaves him prone to flares of impatience, according to numerous people who regularly interact with him. The president has said he expects to run for a second term, but aides say he understands the effect on his ability to advance his agenda if Republicans regain power in Congress next year.
He never erupts into fits of rage the way President Donald J. Trump did. And the current president rarely exhibits the smoldering anger or sense of deep disappointment that advisers to Mr. Obama became familiar with.
But several people familiar with the president’s decision-making style said Mr. Biden was quick to cut off conversations. Three people who work closely with him said he even occasionally hangs up the phone on someone who he thinks is wasting his time. Most described Mr. Biden as having little patience for advisers who cannot field his many questions....
No, really?
...“He hates blandishing fast-talk that sounds like double speak,” said Chris Jennings, a former health policy aide who engaged frequently with Mr. Biden when he was vice president. “Doesn’t trust it, and he’s certain voters loathe it.”
Earlier in March, the president’s top immigration advisers gathered to brief him on the growing problems at the southwestern border, where thousands of children from Central America were crossing without adults. After a drawn-out conversation, Mr. Biden asked members of the group whether any of them had been to the border in recent days.
He was met with silence, which prompted the predictable reaction: frustration. Four days later, the advisers — including the secretary of homeland security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, and Susan Rice, the director of Mr. Biden’s Domestic Policy Council — arrived at the border to assess the situation...
And when serious policy discussions come up, what does he want to know?
On the morning of March 31, Mr. Biden was in the Oval Office with Gina McCarthy, his climate czar, and Ali Zaidi, her deputy, to talk about methane emissions and the effort to reclaim mines. The aides wanted to talk about the global effect of policies that they believed he should enact.
He had different kinds of questions.
During a lengthy discussion, Mr. Biden quizzed them on how his climate policy would influence specific workers in Pennsylvania, his home state. How would all of this affect earth-moving workers, fabricators, those pouring concrete, derrick operators, plumbers and pipe fitters, and licensed truckers, he asked.
“We walked through each of those specific occupations, those specific tasks that people do,” Mr. Zaidi said. “And he probed on, you know, ‘And how much do these folks make?’ and ‘How many of them are there in southwestern Pennsylvania?’ and ‘OK, you told me about this geothermal resource, but does this geothermal resource exist in West Virginia?’”
What do consequences for actual people have to to do with policy? What is he thinking?
And how does he do it?
...Over time, the president’s staff has learned the routine. They have padded his schedule with 15-minute breaks because they know he will not finish on time. He is allowed 30 minutes for lunch — a rotation of salad, soup and sandwiches — and because of the pandemic, rarely eats with people other than Vice President Kamala Harris, with whom he has a weekly lunch.
One item not on the daily agenda?
Watching hours of cable news. The television that Mr. Trump installed in the dining room next to the Oval Office is still there, but aides say it is rarely on during the day...
Oh, and there are important details like this:
Mr. Biden is usually back in the residence by 7 p.m. for dinner with the first lady. He likes pasta with red sauce, while Dr. Biden prefers grilled chicken or fish.
There’s a lot more in this profile piece, such as who Biden relies on, the informal personal engagements that sometimes come through, and other matters. The tone of the piece is what struck me.
It’s almost as though the reporters who put this together can’t seem to get a handle on a president who is focused on the job of being the president for all Americans, one who isn't obsessed with the optics and the politics of everything, one who apparently believes what he does, how he does it, and for whom he does it matters. You know — governing.
The phrase “damning with faint praise” comes to mind.
The huge gap between this and the previous administration seems a bridge too far for the reporting crew on this story. They seem like they’re trying to find a way to “both sides” this.
Compare and contrast with the GOP sh*tshow currently in progress; the media barely blinks at the authoritarian madhouse that threatens us with permanent minority rule if they can pull it off. Eric Boehlert nails it with The media have no idea how to cover increasingly deranged GOP.
The Fourth Estate is seriously broken.
Here’s who the reporters are on this:
Michael D. Shear is a White House correspondent. He previously worked at The Washington Post and was a member of their Pulitzer Prize-winning team that covered the Virginia Tech shootings in 2007. @shearm
Katie Rogers is a White House correspondent in the Washington bureau. @katierogers
Annie Karni is a White House correspondent. She previously covered the White House and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign for Politico, and covered local news and politics for the New York Post and the New York Daily News. @AnnieKarni
Paul Krugman’s take on this speaks for itself.