who (is) better to look at

[sitifan]

As we seek to spend time with God, who better to look at as our example than Jesus? (My bold.)
Source: In His Presence, by Dennis Fisher, page 15.
Can I use 'who is better' instead 'who better' in the above quotation?

 

[Skrej]

I suppose, but you should understand that 'who better than X for Y' is a set phrase. While your rephrasing works, it sounds a bit off.

 

[jutfrank]

I'd formulate the pattern like this:

who better to do something than X?
or
who better than X to do something?

 

[emsr2d2]

Bear in mind, too, that it can be a standalone sentence. It's not in post #1, and jutfrank didn't start his examples with a capital letter so I believe he's also referring to it being used elsewhere in a sentence. It's perfectly OK to say "Who better than Donald Duck to lead the Labour party?" or "Who better to fix my fence than my neighbour who's won awards for his DIY skills?"

 

[Annabel Lee]

As we seek to spend time with God, who better to look at as our example than Jesus? (My bold.)
Source: In His Presence, by Dennis Fisher, page 15.

Idiomaticity aside, "whom" could, in theory, be used here, since the interrogative pronoun functions as the object of "at":

Whom better than he to look at as our example?​

​

Arguably, we're seeing a nonfinite, infinitival interrogative clause functioning as a root question. Here's an example from 1819:

[T]he President knew not whom better to trust [. . .].​

 

[sitifan]

Idiomaticity aside, "whom" could, in theory, be used here, since the interrogative pronoun functions as the object of "at":

Whom better than he to look at as our example?​

Whom better than him to look at as our example?
Could him be used here?

 

[5jj]

It could. There might even be one or two native speakers left who would use it.

 

[Rover_KE]

I'd say 'Who better than him?'

 

[Annabel Lee]

Whom better than him to look at as our example?
Could him be used here?

Which is the correct case for the pronoun depends on whether one parses "than" as a preposition followed by a pronominal object or as a subordinating conjunction introducing an elliptical clause whose only remnant is the pronominal subject.