Joe Biden is living in a time reminiscent of the 1993 film Groundhog Day, stuck in limbo and answering the same questions over and over while trying to take his place as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Isolated in his Wilmington, Delaware, home, Biden says that his day starts with two meetings with advisers: one on the status of the coronavirus pandemic and government response and one on the economy.
Later in the day, the former vice president heads from his basement recreation room to his newly constructed professional studio, where he either gives a livestream address or appears on a television show.
The hits are often very similar to each other. Biden finds ways to mention that he wants up to $10,000 in student loans canceled for those affected by the coronavirus, a temporary month ban on evictions, and for President Trump to use the Defense Production Act to create medical supplies.
He is challenged on his healthcare plan, having to address indirectly the single-payer healthcare proposal pushed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, his last remaining competitor for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“In a case like this, is your plan better than ‘Medicare for all?'” Anderson Cooper asked Biden in a CNN town hall last week. (“Yes,” Biden responded, adding that his plan includes “a public option for Medicare.”)
“Are you repositioning when it comes to single-payer healthcare?” he was asked on MSNBC on Monday. (“Single-payer will not solve that at all,” Biden responded.)
Biden is prodded on whether Sanders should drop out.
“Is there a point where Bernie Sanders is no longer playing a productive role in this Democratic primary?” NBC host Chuck Todd asked on Meet the Press on Sunday. “What do you think about him continuing his campaign, continuing to compete in primaries?” CNN host Jake Tapper asked Biden last week. Biden diplomatically responds that the decision is up to Sanders.
Other times, he’s prodded to take his criticism of Trump to a harsher level.
“Do you think there is blood on the president’s hands considering the slow response?” Todd asked Biden on Meet the Press Sunday. (“I think that’s a little too harsh,” Biden said.)
“Do you think President Trump is responsible for the deaths of Americans?” CNN host Brooke Baldwin asked Tuesday. (“President Trump is not responsible for the coronavirus. But he is responsible for using all of the power at his disposal to deal with this virus,” Biden responded.)
Biden tries to strike a balance of being firm without being so critical that he comes off as opportunistic. As a result, the former vice president is fading away from the public psyche. A Yahoo/YouGov poll released Tuesday found that Biden is one of the least viable public figures during the crisis, with only 17% of respondents saying that they have heard “a lot” from the former vice president.
Additionally, as Biden is no longer in a position with the power to make governing decisions, there is little incentive for news outlets to direct attention his way. Voters instead direct attention to executives and leaders whose decisions will have immediate and measurable impacts on their lives. Trump takes up time with daily press briefings, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has emerged as a popular fantasy alternative to Biden as a Democratic presidential nominee.
Like other people staying at home to combat the spread of the virus, all Biden can do while the pandemic disrupts normal life is get up tomorrow and try to keep being talked about until he’s able to crisscross the country once again and speak directly to voters.
