Acting

 Looking at our elections with a National perspective is somewhat deceiving. There is a saying that all politics are local.  Voters aren't concerned enough about the plight of transgender people if the local plant shuts down.  This explains at least in part the appeal of certain politicians.  Donald Trump for all his faults and lies was flawed enough to seem like he got it, to the people at his rallies.  He acted more like they did than most national politicians and he managed to convince many of his listeners he was one of "us" and not one of "them".

Of course as a child of privilege and a New York want to be socialite he really was on of them and could care less for the people.  But despite that he was a child of popular culture who could for the most part seem like he did understand and did care, even if he didn't.

Joe Biden has a lot of the same appeal although not quite at the same low level as Trump did.  If you are a white supremacists, Donald was with you but Joe is not.  Similarly he convinced people he was anti-abortion now although based on his history on the subject his real views are unclear.

Before the election his life was mostly a series of failures with his only real success being as a reality TV star.  He also had a flair for being in the news over the years but not all of that was good, unless you believe all publicity is good publicity.

The last few years indicates his acting skills might have been much better than anyone imagined.  Or may the role just fit him.  He is certainly typecast now.