President-elect Joe Biden is already revealing what he intends to focus on during his time as president. His recent staff appointments, including an all-female communications team, make it clear that diversity is as important to the incoming president as anything else.
There is nothing wrong with building a support staff that includes a broad range of backgrounds and ethnicities. However, doing so for diversity’s sake alone is a hollow act.
First and foremost, experience and knowledge should be the criteria by which a prospect is judged. Race and gender should never be a determining factor for any position and especially not one that is in service to our country. But this is decidedly unfashionable in the modern era. And in a post-Trump White House, looking as “woke” as possible will certainly be a chief aim.
During Biden’s presidential campaign, he represented an arm of the Democratic Party that is older and much less progressive than its younger counterpart. Biden is no centrist, as some incorrectly claim, but he is to the right of those like Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. His choice for vice president, California Sen. Kamala Harris, is to the left of him policy-wise. In choosing her, he shows a commitment to the newer generation and its leftist ideologies.
Race and gender are of the utmost importance to Biden. In March, he promised not only to select a female for his running mate but stated, “If I’m elected president, my Cabinet, my administration will look like the country.”
This never-ending emphasis on immutable characteristics is a tiresome one. It shifts priorities from what a hire can substantively provide to what they can superficially bring to the table. It’s safe to say that Biden’s selection of Harris was a starting point for his future selections post-election. This mindset is sure to play a major role during his time in office.
Throughout President Trump’s four years in office, the media have labeled him a sexist and white supremacist sympathizer. These claims carried over to whom he decided to employ. To be sure, the president does himself no favors when he spouts off on social media, verbally supports shady characters, and acts a fool during press conferences or interviews. Yes, there is much to criticize about his unrestrained and often offensive personal nature. But this does not mean that selecting someone like then-Gov. Mike Pence to be his vice president was wrong. Pence is an experienced politician and a great foil to his unbridled boss. Biden is focused on presenting himself as the polar opposite of what we have now. Furthermore, the impending administration will become a ruler by which future administrations are measured. Anything less diverse and less “woke” than what we’re about to have and the media will announce that we’ve taken a collective step back.
Of the reportedly 80 million votes for Biden, there was surely a portion cast by voters who weren’t too keen on the idea of the elderly statesman becoming the next president. Still, in their minds, he was better than the alternative. Though he isn’t the ideal progressive candidate so many Democrats longed for, Biden has quickly made it clear that he will steer his administration in a direction more in keeping with their left-leaning wishes. Whether that’s his own doing or the direction he has been counseled to go is another story entirely.
In the weeks since the election, the media have fawned over Biden’s every move. It’s apparent that by virtue of not being Trump, they’ll believe most all his decisions are correct. This applies to the hires for his new administration. As long as things look different on the surface, they will be deemed better than before. Diversity will be reported and applauded as if it’s the only thing that truly matters.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner’s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
