The Democratic National Convention is set to begin on Monday, not that you would know it if you watched any of the Sunday shows. Despite the culmination of the highly publicized veepstakes succeeding in roiling media praise and a massive fundraising haul, Joe Biden and his newly announced running mate Kamala Harris have taken an unusually guarded approach to campaign coverage, even in the midst of a global pandemic forcing much of normal campaigning to go virtual.
Biden’s campaign strategy since locking down the nomination through waiting for the general election to begin in earnest has consisted largely of focus-group-tested Twitter spots and Zoom calls from his Wilmington basement. That was a defensible enough strategy as the coronavirus blazed through the Acela corridor and before picking his running mate. It’s absolutely not on the eve of the Democratic National Convention.
It makes perfect sense that Biden would remain press-shy. His entire winning strategy is contingent on keeping this election a referendum on President Trump, which repeated polling showing that the overwhelming majority of both Biden and Trump voters are motivated by their feelings toward the latter proves is currently the case. And more importantly, the press will let Biden get away with this.
Consider, since their first formal appearance together as a ticket, Harris and Biden have rebuffed televised questions from the press. Tell me, is a press conference anything other than thinly veiled propaganda is the press is forbidden from answering any questions, and they’re simply fine with that?
Biden staffers rush the press out of the room before Joe Biden can answer any questions pic.twitter.com/AIw3TU4WhF
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) August 14, 2020
And on the Sunday show, only Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders emerged as a prominent Biden surrogate. Harris and Biden were nowhere to be found.
And truthfully, this is the way the Biden campaign wants it.
Say what you will about Trump, but at the same time that he berates members of media as “fake news,” he continues to take question after question and interview after interview, day after day. While Trump runs his mouth in hard-hitting interviews, Biden rejects those from Chris Wallace, happy to bunker down in the basement as his numbers remain bolstered by Trump dominating the news cycle.
And Biden’s lead isn’t just strong; more importantly, it’s steady. So silent, he and Harris will remain until our feckless press decides to actually attempt to hold both parties of power to account.
