Yglesias has a nice rundown of something I've felt about Biden from around the time he started to secure the nomination in 2020. Basically, I do not think Joe Biden is a brilliant guy. His stutter and age make him an ineffective communicator, in comparison to Obama or Clinton. In some ways, his political oratory reminds me more of George W. Bush: folksy and occasionally awkward.
However, I've been quite impressed by Biden's accomplishments, which are far more than I thought they would be when he took the oath of office two years ago. While he lacks the crude dynamism of Lyndon Johnson, he shares with Johnson an instinctual grasp of politics as "the art of the possible." As Yglesias notes, this allows him to actually legislate with some support from Republicans.
Interestingly, Yglesias posits that Biden might actually get some legislation on issues such as immigration through the GOP House. Normally, I would scoff, but I think there is the possibility of some sort of reform of the asylum system. It's close to completely broken, and Republicans say they want to fix it. Whether or not there is anyone on the GOP side who is competent enough to actually craft meaningful legislation is a bigger question, but I wouldn't bet against Uncle Joe.
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