Former Vice President Joe Biden may be the only person who can beat President Trump in 2020. All six senators running for president have co-sponsored a $93 trillion Green New Deal, and five of them have endorsed the nationalization of one-fifth of the economy and abolition of the private health insurance industry with “Medicare for all.” Countless candidates have backed legalizing abortion up until the point of birth, and now supposed front-runner and actual socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and totally-not-a-cop Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., have enthusiastically vowed to let terrorists like the Boston bomber vote from maximum security prison.
But not Biden.
Uncle Joe has had the unique advantage of being able to stay out of the political pigsty for the past two years while remaining lionized as a figure of grace, given his handling of his son’s death, and civility, given the perceived tranquility of the Obama administration. (His only scandal was a tan suit!)
He can recoup the Rust Belt from Trump, and he hasn’t pigeon-holed himself into a socialist corner that would kill him in the general election. Every progressive critique of his past can be refuted with his tangible record from the later years. Sure, he sniffed some hair, but he also spearheaded Obama’s anti-sexual assault initiative on college campuses and is solely responsible for the passage of the Violence Against Women Act. Plus, voters still don’t really seem to care; his RealClearPolitics primary average slipped by just 0.3 percentage points since the first “allegation” of inappropriate behavior went public.
Without so much as fessing up that he’s in, he’s still leading the entire 2020 pack, running nearly 10 percentage points above Sanders, who’s in second.
When Biden announces, he must appeal to two factions: the Democratic base and the disaffected center and right. He must both prove that he is the rightful heir to the Obama legacy and the only one who can unseat Trump, but he must do so in a way that maintains his elder statesmen status. It’s a balancing act, entering the fray while remaining above the gutter, but if anyone can do it, it’s Biden.
Which is why this isn’t a great sign.
[Also read: Getting 2020 ready? Joe Biden spotted with camera crew in Pennsylvania town where he was born]
NEW: @JoeBiden will announce his 2020 presidential candidacy on Thursday morning with an online video, @mikememoli reports via two sources close to Biden with direct knowledge of the planning. Biden will then appear in Pittsburgh Monday for an event at a local union hall.
— Geoff Bennett (@GeoffRBennett) April 23, 2019
Can you tell me how Hillary Clinton announced her run in 2016? Probably not. But what about Trump? What’s the very first thing you think of when I ask how Trump announced his campaign?
That golden escalator ride.
Sure, you may then think of “rapists and murderers” and “they’re not sending their best,” but indelible in your memory of the 2016 fiasco is Trump descending down that escalator with Melania in tow. Maybe it was gaudy, but you cannot deny it was grand.
Announcements matter. They frame the seriousness and tone of your campaign, and you only get one shot.
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., has much higher name recognition than Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., yet she’s polling at less than half of Klobuchar. Surely some of this comes from Gillibrand herself being a weak candidate, but consider their announcements. Gillibrand announced her exploratory committee on Colbert, a pathetic dry run that gave her the gravitas of a comedian.
Klobuchar stood in the Minnesota snow, making reporters watch as she braved the cold like some mythical queen of winter. It was a picture-perfect moment, just as she intended.
Biden has the benefit of a whole lot of charisma and likability. It shows through on video, and a truly stellar edit could give Biden the running start he needs. But it also runs the risk of making his campaign feel more like a reunion run meant to bring back the Obama buddies for a few months rather than the beginning of a presidency.
Biden cannot spend this race apologizing for gaffes and stooping to the level of his deeply unserious competitors. He must act like a president, not a late-night host or a high school girl trying to become prom queen. That begins with an announcement worthy of the White House. A video just won’t cut it.
