Biden will be our nominee
Joe Biden will be our nominee for president. He was not my first choice and wasn’t even in the top half of the initial list, but I must support him now. Another four years of Trump mal-administration and the appointment of young, incompetent Federalist Society judicial vandals will destroy the country. It is not hype to say that this country’s continued existence as a constitutional republic depends on our winning in November. I make the following suggestions for a successful Biden candidacy.
Biden Strengths
Joe Biden won because he is a familiar and comfortable figure who many Democratic Primary voters believe is “most electable”. (I don’t personally agree with this assessment, but that’s beside the point.) Biden achieved this status by having been Obama’s solid VP and by having decades of comfortable TV time as one of the establishment’s favorite Dems. He can come on Meet the Press and be counted on to not rock the boat for the powerful while throwing in a light dash of Dem flavor. The corporate media loves a moderate Dem with a simple bio. Biden can win the moderate vote and will be a comfortable figure for the few Republicans who are in play because of the Trump catastrophe. Biden doesn’t even need to campaign to win these votes. In fact, campaigning too much is probably a mistake. Just be on the ticket and keep the few speeches simple and contrasting with Trump.
Biden’s Weaknesses
The country needs fundamental and radical change. Our unjust, artificial, and unsustainable distribution of wealth is killing us and we barely even talk about it. We are like a hardcore junkie in denial. The coronavirus is really just one of several colliding environmental catastrophes, with many more to come, if we don’t fundamentally change our relationship to nature. There is nothing in Biden’s history that inspires confidence that he truly understands how screwed we are. There is nothing in his past to suggest that he will take the kind of bold steps we need as a nation. Without a bold statement of change many Democrats will simply stay home in November. Many people will scream at me for making this prediction, but it is the simple reality that bland, centrist Dems don’t win. How do we win, given our current hand?
What to do?
I hope Biden’s advisors can feed him some red pills fast. Biden can be a pivotal leader to a much better future, but he must reach beyond his historic comfort zone. One thing the somewhat unruly Democratic Primary showed is that we have some awesome, kick-ass talent in the Party. Let’s start by using it.
An Early VP Pick
I think this one is obvious, with some great options out of the Primaries. The pick needs to be an energizing choice. My picks would be one of either Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, or Stacy Abrams. (But a Warren pick would have the problem of having a R governor in MA appointing a fresh Rethug.) The pick could be staged over a few weeks to maximize press coverage. It would be an opportunity to also showcase how insane Pence is. We need this VP pick to do more campaigning than a typical pick for the obvious reasons. This pick can be more energizing to the base than Biden and can also assure of being a solid future president.
A Shadow Cabinet
Next Biden needs to announce that he is selecting a shadow cabinet (including some key under-secretary positions) with about one announcement per week. The pace should be set to maximize press dominance. It will drive the Shitgibbon nuts to lose control of the news cycle. He will do what he always does and act out as a cruel imbecile. We want to keep that on display through November but in a reactive mode projecting a lack of power. The Biden cabinet needs to gradually become the presumptive new government. Each of Trump’s cabinet picks will be put into sharp contradistinction to a competent, thoughtful Dem. The cabinet will begin to show up at campaign events and be the main event. Biden just needs to sit in the background, flash his pearly whites, and hold Jill’s hand. The shadow cabinet will state the bold policy positions and contrast themselves with the Trump gang of grifters. I would love to see a couple of weeks of Kamala Harris as DOJ pick talking shit about what she plans to do to Trump and Barr. The shadow cabinet rollout will also extend to under-secretary positions and some of these could even be offered to the few Republicans who can be counted on to not gnaw on the furniture or piss on the carpet. (Weld?)
As mentioned earlier the shadow cabinet will also include under-secretary positions. This is where we build the future of the party and where we build hope for the younger generation running short of it. Some of these picks should be given over to AOC and the gang of four. Perhaps some can be publicly given over to the other top primary contenders. Bernie and Warren supporters can see their candidates as picking some key posts with significant implications for the future. Biden needs to let go of some of these picks and just let some fresh air into the room. It also would give him a chance to appeal to multiple audiences. People can see some well-known figures in the top key positions (comforting). Dems hungrier for big change can see at least some prospects in these undersecretary positions (inspiring). A move like this will address Biden’s greatest weakness, which is his not being seen as the kind of change agent we need.
A Media Strategy
The U.S corporate media exists to promote the neo-liberal economic agenda. That is, they will always normalize the perverse and demonize the obviously sensible in support of our freakish distribution of wealth. Dems speech needs to acknowledge this reality and plan for it. One of the things I love so much about Warren and Sanders is their refusal to talk inside of neo-liberal frames. Other Dems need to acquire this talent or just be quiet. Dems need to campaign on breaking up the media monopolies and acknowledge the press dysfunction. In an odd way Trump is right on this one. We really do have fake news in this country, but it works to his, and other Rethugs’ advantage. He is a product of it. Dems don’t need to be assholes about it, but it must be part of the reform package that we need is to break up the broadcast, cable, and internet oligopolies and to point out who they really serve. We need to work the refs too.
Parallel to this Biden must build an innovative, pro-active social media campaign to bypass the media giants. The good side is that the conservative attacks are fully predictable. Name calling, smears, innuendo, false equivalence, sexual titillation, etc. Be ready and even pre-empt.
Supporting these earlier press points, the ads are essentially already written. Just pull the quotes from Republicans attacking Trump. Use their own words against them. Their hypocrisy is at nuclear levels.
Lastly, the media campaign must particularly highlight conservative media. The election also needs to be about convicting Fox News in the court of public opinion. Pull up clips where Hannity is cooing some lying nonsense about Trump….it isn’t hard. Hell, it’s hard to find a clip where he isn’t doing it. Photoshop the Fox logo to be much larger than it really is. Photoshop his tag line as “Chief Advisor to the President” or some such dribble. Be bold. Delight in them coming back and complaining about it. Embrace a week-long news cycle fight about what media is honest and which isn’t. Relish the fight but be prepared. But Biden must stay personally out of it. This is what the younger generation of Dems is cut out to do. Biden, please just let them have their moment. And honestly, you aren’t equipped for this kind of fight. Social science teaches us that you can’t usually confront a cultist directly and have any success, but you can sow the seeds of doubt for the cult member. Some will find their way out.
My Conclusions
Biden can win in November. I don’t think he wins running a typical centrist campaign. If Biden will reach beyond his historic comfort zone, I believe he could be the pivot to a brighter, progressive future. I don’t personally think he has the radical reform in his DNA that we need but his instincts are in the right direction. Let’s figure out how to push Biden to victory.
