For good or ill, headlines matter. They shape how people view a story and often are the only thing most people read for any given story.

Headline writers know that, and they use that fact to shape perceptions.

That’s why I was so struck by this headline from an Associated Press story on Joe Biden. Purporting to be an analysis from a reputable news service that provides stories to almost every newsroom in the country, it is a classic example of spin masquerading as dispassionately presented facts and analysis.

Perhaps they mistake Creepy Joe’s obsession with touching and sniffing women as empathy. Or, more likely, they are trying to spin Joe Biden’s nastiness and creepiness as an expression of deep caring for his fellow man. At least his fellow men who don’t vote Republican.

It is really bizarre and entirely based upon stories likely made up by Joe’s spin doctors. I say that because Creepy Joe has been in the public eye for decades now, and every story he tells about connecting with the little people turns out to be a lie.

Except, perhaps, the one about children rubbing his hairy legs before he goes off to scare Corn Pop.

Stunning gems of wisdom from the supreme leader Joe Biden of USA,
"I get hot and have hairy legs so used to love watching the kids coming in the pool to rub my legs down. I love roaches and kids jumping on my lap" 🤣🤔 https://t.co/AxOrF034Wz

— Jungliat pil (@jungliat) February 8, 2023

Perhaps Joe Biden’s compassion comes out when dealing with disasters, such as the one in East Palestine, OH, where his administration has refused to help. It took nearly two weeks for anybody in the White House to speak to the Mayor of the town, and Secretary Pete Buttigieg has yet to visit or do much more than blame Donald Trump.

That’s empathy, according to the AP’s analysis.

Poor Joe Biden just doesn’t get any credit for caring so deeply. In fact, caring deeply is perhaps his greatest fault, because he can only communicate through hugs, kisses, sniffing of hair, and groping young girls.

AP argues that the only reason people see Creepy Joe as anything but empathetic is partisanship, and indeed there is a huge partisan divide over the issue.

53% of voters in the midterm elections said Biden didn’t care about people like them, according to AP VoteCast, a sweeping survey of the electorate. That belief about Biden — a president known to commiserate with grieving families and offer to phone children who want puppies — is a reflection of how people judge leaders through a rigidly partisan lens. About 9 in 10 Republicans say Biden is indifferent to them; roughly that many Democrats see him as empathetic.

Of course, if 53% of people think Biden doesn’t care about them, that means most Independents agree with Republicans on the matter. So the poll really tells you that Democrats think Joe cares about them, which of course is true. At least he cares about their votes. But the rest of the country is pretty sure that the real Biden is the one who filmed an updated version of Triumph of the Will in front of Independence Hall.

Still, Biden’s supporters are convinced that all he has to do is more of the same and people will finally warm up to the creeper. I am pretty sure the opposite is true. Or, rather, that there is little he can do to change people’s minds after decades of projecting indifference to real people’s concerns.

Even with abysmal approval ratings, the best strategy for Biden might be to simply keep doing what he’s doing, giving speeches about what he’s achieved, with lines that reporters might have heard before but that seem fresh to local audiences, said William Howell, a professor at the University of Chicago.

“The thing to do is what Biden is doing right now,” Howell said. “It’s really about repetition, not just him saying it over and over again, but his surrogates saying it, and have these messages break through.”