Joe Biden is the likely Democratic presidential nominee, but he’s not acting like it.
The former vice president has been noticeably absent from the national stage over the past few weeks, while Congress has worked out a coherent relief package to aid the economy. Democratic governors, such as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, have partnered with the Trump administration to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
The few appearances Biden has made have not exactly inspired confidence in his ability to lead the nation. In what appeared to be an attempt to counter President Trump’s vow not to allow the “cure” to become worse than the “problem,” Biden told ABC News: “We have to take care of the cure. That will make the problem worse no matter what.”
If you’re confused, don’t worry. Biden didn’t seem to understand what he meant either.
This confusion deepened on Monday when Biden laid out four points of actions he’d like to see the government take. At one point the teleprompter failed, leading Biden to completely miss one of his four points, and it was difficult to get past his repeated gestures to one of his staffers.
And in another interview with CNN this week, the former vice president was publicly chastised for repeatedly coughing into his hand and touching his face. The exchange was awkward, and it was obvious Biden was distracted.
But distracted with what? Besides the few videos his team has released online, Biden isn’t campaigning. And he hasn’t exactly been leading the Democratic Party’s efforts to combat the coronavirus. Indeed, he hasn’t even offered an original thought on the subject. Instead, he’s allowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to take the lead while he parrots their talking points. He blasted the Senate GOP’s relief package as a “plan that let big corporations off the hook,” and a “$500 billion slush fund for corporations, with almost no conditions,” without offering an alternative solution.
Biden is trying to put himself in the spotlight. It’s just that those efforts have failed to do anything helpful for his campaign.
Admittedly, Biden is in a tough position. He can’t continue to physically campaign because doing so would endanger public health. All rallies and campaign events must be put on hold while the states try to contain the spread of the virus. And an aggressive virtual campaign would endanger his public image. People don’t care about politics right now. Many are losing their jobs, businesses, and loved ones. November’s election is unimportant and minuscule in comparison.
There’s also not much Biden could do in the day-to-day effort to combat the coronavirus. Trump and his task force are the public face of the government’s response, while the governors are coordinating the states’ respective efforts. Biden simply cannot provide anything these leaders do not already have.
Howard Gutman, a former Obama administration ambassador, put it this way: “This is bigger than Joe, and at a certain point there’s only so much good you can do with your words. You begin to look small if you’re just on the sidelines criticizing.”
There is one thing, however, that Biden could have done: He could have helped his party shape its legislative response to the coronavirus outbreak. Biden knows how Capitol Hill works, he has all of the right relationships with Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and he claimed to be in communication with congressional Democrats behind the scenes. Yet he sat back and watched as Pelosi and Schumer tried to use the Senate’s relief package as ideological leverage, delaying much-needed aid to U.S. workers and businesses.
Biden had an opportunity to lead, but he did not take it. Now he’s stuck in Delaware, trying to make up for lost ground.
