Joe Biden is running a strange campaign. Since the COVID-19 restrictions, he has not been seen in public as far as I know. He seems to feel that he has no options other than virtual ones and that he is already a well-enough known persona who people trust that he can beat Trump. And if he looks at the polls, he can take comfort in them.
But there is a real risk in his losing the election if he does not step up to the plate and present his leadership chops to the American people.
First of all, he does have an option. Both because of the pandemic and his de facto position as the Democratic nominee, he could hold a weekly news conference to present his take on what is happening, what should be happening, what he would do if he were president.
He needs to show the American people the kind of leadership he would provide. Which as a side benefit would make Trump look bad without saying a derogatory word. Maybe he’s getting advice that Trump’s digging his own grave, so stay silent. I think that’s bad advice.
Second, while he may win if people want to vote for the nice guy rather than Mr. Crazy, he won’t win big, which is what we need to take back the Senate, without him providing a strong force for the country to look to for leadership. Joe Biden needs to show the public that he has balls.
Third, Biden needs to show that while he is a unifier and can work with the opposition, he is not just “let’s all shake hands and be friends.” He has got to show that he doesn’t have Obama’s key flaw, which was to think that the Republicans can be brought to the table as reasonable people; be nice to them and they’ll be nice to you. Times have changed. He needs to show determination and fighting spirit on the important issues of the day.
Finally, although he has now addressed the sexual assault allegation made by a former staffer, what he said isn’t enough. Although The New York Times in reporting the allegation took no position as to whether the incident occurred or not, it did give the allegation status, especially since there is a confirmed contemporaneous statement to a friend about the incident.
There are many problems with her story, but those are not dispositive. Then there’s the timing, she changed her story from touching to assault just after Biden de facto won the nomination. Hmm? Yes, he’s never been accused of a violent or gross assault. People who do such things do them serially, so the fact that no one else has come forward with an allegation makes it unlikely. But that also isn’t enough.
Biden needs to get past the “she said, he said” dynamic. What he needs to do is offer to take a lie detector test and make the test public. He should also demand that Reade take a lie detector test. While lie detector tests are not admissible as evidence in a court of law, they are in the court of public opinion.
He has to get past this. He may think it’s not going to matter for most people, even most women, but it just has to matter to enough to change some close states for him to lose the election.
Plus Biden needs to show that he has grown in stature with age. He is not just another politician who is good at glib non-responses to serious questions. He needs to show that he truly understands the seriousness of people’s concern about such matters and that he is willing to put himself at risk to prove his innocence.
Biden was not my candidate. Others had better personalities and agendas for our time. But Biden is a good man and will start the process of bringing our country out of the depths of degradation it has seen and into the light.
