There’s still time for Democrats to field a stronger presidential candidate than Joe Biden. Lyndon Johnson bowed out on March 31, 1968. However, to quote SNL’s Dana Carvey playing George H.W. Bush: “Not gonna happen.”
So, as it appears inevitable that their presidential nominee will be Joe Biden, Democrats must strategize how they are going to climb the steep electoral hill in front of them. Biden’s fiery State of the Union speech was a good beginning. Several suggestions for continuing the positive momentum follow:
Adopt a Team Approach
When we elect a President, we not only choose one person to lead the nation; we choose an entire team. Biden’s perceived weaknesses—age, visible lack of vigor, inexplicably getting zero credit for his achievements—must be compensated for by demonstrating one obvious and very powerful contrast with his opponent: his formidable team of advisors.
Compare and contrast the Biden and Trump teams—both past and future—and its no contest. Biden’s is young, stable, scandal-free and highly competent. In contrast, Trump’s former team of mostly quacks and hacks brought us chaos, corruption and a level of ineptitude not seen since Warren Harding’s untidy presidency a hundred years ago. Should Trump be re-elected, however, his former team will look like Nobel laureates and rocket scientists in comparison to the wrecking crew of toadies and losers with whom he will surround himself. He has already told us that the sole qualification for cabinet office will be their servile loyalty to him. Anyone with a spine, decency and dignity won’t go near him.
The turnover of cabinet members and White House (WH) officials during Trump’s term was unprecedented. His turnover rate of senior advisors exceeded that of his five predecessors combined. Here is just a small sampling: 4 Attorneys-General; 4 Secretaries of Defense; 4 Homeland Security Secretaries; 4 WH Chiefs of Staff; 5 Deputy WH Chiefs of Staff; 5 WH Communications Directors; 4 WH Press Secretaries; 4 National Security Advisors; 6 Deputy National Security Advisors. In contrast, Biden’s administration has experienced one of the lowest turnover rates in history.
Another glaring difference is the number of Trump cabinet and White House officials who left under a legal or ethical cloud: Remember Michael Flynn? Tom Price? Ryan Zinke? Steve Bannon? Rob Porter? David Shulkin?...to name just a few. Biden’s unblemished record in this respect is a stark contrast.
In a second Trump administration, you can also forget the handful of ostensible “guardrail” types that occasionally cropped up in his first term: James Mattis at Defense; Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence; White House Chief of Staff John Kelly; Henry McMaster, the National Security Advisor. They did not last long and they proved inadequate guardrails indeed. Trump II won’t have even shaky guardrails to protect us from his depredations.
The great strength represented by the Biden team will go unrecognized by voters unless they get out there as surrogates and campaign vigorously on behalf of their boss. They should be everywhere, all the time, all at once touting both the administration’s achievements and its plans for a second term designed to improve Americans’ lives. An added benefit of this strategy would be the obvious manifestation of their youth and energy.
Flip the Coattail Effect
This means actively involving down-ballot candidates. Democrats have a quality field of aspirants for the Senate, House and governorships. They need to get out there and explain why it is not only important, but critical that the country vote “blue” up and down the ticket if voters want anything constructive to get done. A Republican President, Senate or House will only be an obstruction to improving American lives unless one happens to be a billionaire or is more interested in performance art than governing.
Enlist the Bench
The Democrats have a deep and impressive bench in state houses, mayoral offices and on Capitol Hill. People like Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, Gavin Newsom, Roy Cooper, Maura Healy, Katie Hobbs, Laura Kelly, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Wes Moore, Jared Polis and Tim Walz among the Governors; Mayors like Kate Gallego (Phoenix), Ron Nirenberg (San Antonio), Paige Cognetti (Scranton), Todd Gloria (San Diego), Karen Bass (Los Angeles), Donna Deegan (Jacksonville) and Michelle Wu (Boston); Senators like Michael Bennet, Mark Kelly, Chris Murphy, Raphael Warnock, John Ossoff, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Van Hollen, Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto and Cory Booker, and a slew of articulate and dynamic House members such as Jamie Raskin, Elissa Slotkin, Debbie Dingell, Mary Peltola, Rho Khanna, Doris Matsui, Pete Aguilar, Ted Lieu, Josh Gottheimer and many, many others.
All of the aforementioned Democratic politicians are accomplished and should be out on the hustings reminding voters that Democrats are laser-focused on governing and making lives better, as opposed to their Republican counterparts, power-hungry culture warriors in it for themselves, period.
Compare and Contrast
There is an ocean of video of Trump saying evil and unintelligible things that the Biden campaign should hammer both the airwaves and social media with for the next eight months. Let him demonstrate how uninformed, ignorant and dangerous he would be as President. These could be packaged so as to contrast them with what Biden said/says on the same topic.
Voters have very short memories. They need constant reminders of the perils of a Trump return to power.
Do a Harry Truman
Biden needs to harp on the theme of the “Do Nothing” Congress, the least productive in memory, and tie its inaction and House Republican anarchy to Trump’s malevolent influence. In fact, incorporating a Truman-esque “whistle stop” campaign might not be a bad idea.
Educate the Public About What’s At Stake
We see and hear tons of moaning about the threat to democracy. Polls, however, indicate that large numbers of Americans do not understand what democracy is and why it is so far superior to the dictatorship Trump has in mind. Biden and his surrogates need to compensate for that educational void.
Another component of the Biden education effort needs to be devoted to why NATO is essential and what will happen if Putin is allowed to defeat Ukraine.
Repeat: Putin, Putin, Putin
There needs to be constant messaging about Putin’s U.S. agents and Trump’s adulation of butchering tyrants like Putin, Kim, Xi and the Iranian Ayatollahs.
Don’t Ignore the Middle East
Biden is now on the right track criticizing Israel for the manner in which it is conducting the Gaza War, demanding a cease-fire, providing aid to Gazans and re-orienting American policy toward a two-state solution. This must be coupled with security guarantees for the only Middle East democracy.
Foreign policy does not usually swing voters, but this time may be different.
Don’t Hide the President
Biden needs to be much more visible. I sense that his campaign staff wants to keep him away from the media and public because they believe that visibility only emphasizes his age and physical affect. However, those are a given. Keeping him locked up only bakes in that impression in voters’ minds. Letting him loose to respond to reporters’ and voters’ questions is the best way to demonstrate both his stamina and mental acuity. Not to mention the contrast it draws with his severely cognitively challenged opponent who does not know who is President (Biden? Obama?) or who was Speaker of the House on January 6, 2021 (Nancy Pelosi? Nikki Haley?).
These are only some of the suggested tactics that Biden needs to implement if he is to sway enough voters to turn out and pull the lever for him and Democrats in general. There are others, of course, assuming that his campaign can walk and chew gum at the same time.
At this juncture, it appears that Biden needs to embark on a pro-active, multi-pronged strategy. Time is getting short.
Dick Hermann
March 9, 2024
So, as it appears inevitable that their presidential nominee will be Joe Biden, Democrats must strategize how they are going to climb the steep electoral hill in front of them. Biden’s fiery State of the Union speech was a good beginning. Several suggestions for continuing the positive momentum follow:
Adopt a Team Approach
When we elect a President, we not only choose one person to lead the nation; we choose an entire team. Biden’s perceived weaknesses—age, visible lack of vigor, inexplicably getting zero credit for his achievements—must be compensated for by demonstrating one obvious and very powerful contrast with his opponent: his formidable team of advisors.
Compare and contrast the Biden and Trump teams—both past and future—and its no contest. Biden’s is young, stable, scandal-free and highly competent. In contrast, Trump’s former team of mostly quacks and hacks brought us chaos, corruption and a level of ineptitude not seen since Warren Harding’s untidy presidency a hundred years ago. Should Trump be re-elected, however, his former team will look like Nobel laureates and rocket scientists in comparison to the wrecking crew of toadies and losers with whom he will surround himself. He has already told us that the sole qualification for cabinet office will be their servile loyalty to him. Anyone with a spine, decency and dignity won’t go near him.
The turnover of cabinet members and White House (WH) officials during Trump’s term was unprecedented. His turnover rate of senior advisors exceeded that of his five predecessors combined. Here is just a small sampling: 4 Attorneys-General; 4 Secretaries of Defense; 4 Homeland Security Secretaries; 4 WH Chiefs of Staff; 5 Deputy WH Chiefs of Staff; 5 WH Communications Directors; 4 WH Press Secretaries; 4 National Security Advisors; 6 Deputy National Security Advisors. In contrast, Biden’s administration has experienced one of the lowest turnover rates in history.
Another glaring difference is the number of Trump cabinet and White House officials who left under a legal or ethical cloud: Remember Michael Flynn? Tom Price? Ryan Zinke? Steve Bannon? Rob Porter? David Shulkin?...to name just a few. Biden’s unblemished record in this respect is a stark contrast.
In a second Trump administration, you can also forget the handful of ostensible “guardrail” types that occasionally cropped up in his first term: James Mattis at Defense; Dan Coats as Director of National Intelligence; White House Chief of Staff John Kelly; Henry McMaster, the National Security Advisor. They did not last long and they proved inadequate guardrails indeed. Trump II won’t have even shaky guardrails to protect us from his depredations.
The great strength represented by the Biden team will go unrecognized by voters unless they get out there as surrogates and campaign vigorously on behalf of their boss. They should be everywhere, all the time, all at once touting both the administration’s achievements and its plans for a second term designed to improve Americans’ lives. An added benefit of this strategy would be the obvious manifestation of their youth and energy.
Flip the Coattail Effect
This means actively involving down-ballot candidates. Democrats have a quality field of aspirants for the Senate, House and governorships. They need to get out there and explain why it is not only important, but critical that the country vote “blue” up and down the ticket if voters want anything constructive to get done. A Republican President, Senate or House will only be an obstruction to improving American lives unless one happens to be a billionaire or is more interested in performance art than governing.
Enlist the Bench
The Democrats have a deep and impressive bench in state houses, mayoral offices and on Capitol Hill. People like Gretchen Whitmer, Josh Shapiro, Andy Beshear, Gavin Newsom, Roy Cooper, Maura Healy, Katie Hobbs, Laura Kelly, Michelle Lujan Grisham, Wes Moore, Jared Polis and Tim Walz among the Governors; Mayors like Kate Gallego (Phoenix), Ron Nirenberg (San Antonio), Paige Cognetti (Scranton), Todd Gloria (San Diego), Karen Bass (Los Angeles), Donna Deegan (Jacksonville) and Michelle Wu (Boston); Senators like Michael Bennet, Mark Kelly, Chris Murphy, Raphael Warnock, John Ossoff, Tammy Duckworth, Chris Van Hollen, Amy Klobuchar, Catherine Cortez Masto and Cory Booker, and a slew of articulate and dynamic House members such as Jamie Raskin, Elissa Slotkin, Debbie Dingell, Mary Peltola, Rho Khanna, Doris Matsui, Pete Aguilar, Ted Lieu, Josh Gottheimer and many, many others.
All of the aforementioned Democratic politicians are accomplished and should be out on the hustings reminding voters that Democrats are laser-focused on governing and making lives better, as opposed to their Republican counterparts, power-hungry culture warriors in it for themselves, period.
Compare and Contrast
There is an ocean of video of Trump saying evil and unintelligible things that the Biden campaign should hammer both the airwaves and social media with for the next eight months. Let him demonstrate how uninformed, ignorant and dangerous he would be as President. These could be packaged so as to contrast them with what Biden said/says on the same topic.
Voters have very short memories. They need constant reminders of the perils of a Trump return to power.
Do a Harry Truman
Biden needs to harp on the theme of the “Do Nothing” Congress, the least productive in memory, and tie its inaction and House Republican anarchy to Trump’s malevolent influence. In fact, incorporating a Truman-esque “whistle stop” campaign might not be a bad idea.
Educate the Public About What’s At Stake
We see and hear tons of moaning about the threat to democracy. Polls, however, indicate that large numbers of Americans do not understand what democracy is and why it is so far superior to the dictatorship Trump has in mind. Biden and his surrogates need to compensate for that educational void.
Another component of the Biden education effort needs to be devoted to why NATO is essential and what will happen if Putin is allowed to defeat Ukraine.
Repeat: Putin, Putin, Putin
There needs to be constant messaging about Putin’s U.S. agents and Trump’s adulation of butchering tyrants like Putin, Kim, Xi and the Iranian Ayatollahs.
Don’t Ignore the Middle East
Biden is now on the right track criticizing Israel for the manner in which it is conducting the Gaza War, demanding a cease-fire, providing aid to Gazans and re-orienting American policy toward a two-state solution. This must be coupled with security guarantees for the only Middle East democracy.
Foreign policy does not usually swing voters, but this time may be different.
Don’t Hide the President
Biden needs to be much more visible. I sense that his campaign staff wants to keep him away from the media and public because they believe that visibility only emphasizes his age and physical affect. However, those are a given. Keeping him locked up only bakes in that impression in voters’ minds. Letting him loose to respond to reporters’ and voters’ questions is the best way to demonstrate both his stamina and mental acuity. Not to mention the contrast it draws with his severely cognitively challenged opponent who does not know who is President (Biden? Obama?) or who was Speaker of the House on January 6, 2021 (Nancy Pelosi? Nikki Haley?).
These are only some of the suggested tactics that Biden needs to implement if he is to sway enough voters to turn out and pull the lever for him and Democrats in general. There are others, of course, assuming that his campaign can walk and chew gum at the same time.
At this juncture, it appears that Biden needs to embark on a pro-active, multi-pronged strategy. Time is getting short.
Dick Hermann
March 9, 2024
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