Democrats know exactly what the campaign is about
The Biden general election campaign so far seems to be remarkably competent and disciplined. Biden’s team prevented any leaks about the identity of Biden’s pick for vice president. They scripted the rollout speeches for Biden and Sen. Kamala D. Harris (D-Calif.), which came off without technical or other glitches. They have put Biden out there over the last month or so to deliver a series of meaty policy speeches all focused on the economy and recovery from the coronavirus — with special emphasis on addressing disparities that have disadvantaged Blacks, Hispanics and other communities. His proposals are bold enough to satisfy the left, but none of it sounds like he is upending capitalism.
Certainly, Biden — but more often his staff — condemns Trump’s egregious racism, misogyny and xenophobia. However, unlike Hillary Clinton’s campaign, the Biden campaign is not designed to show what an awful human Trump is. That’s a given. What they want to say rather is simple: He failed. You’re hurting. We’re the grown-ups to clean up the mess.
That, in some sense is what every challenger runs on when confronting an incumbent seeking his second term, but Biden and Harris have three huge assets to amplify their message.
First, every time Trump opens his mouth, he confirms that he is an incompetent narcissist who has no idea about the concerns of ordinary Americans. He wants to reopen states really, really fast and force in-person schooling. The public is concerned we are opening too fast, and is frightened to send their kids back to classrooms with the virus still raging. Trump says testing is fine; we know it is not, as Americans are forced to wait a week or more for results. Trump says the anarchists are taking over cities. Americans do not see it. Mostly, the cities look forlorn, littered with empty shop fronts. Trump makes Biden’s argument better than any opponent could: He is entirely clueless and incapable of handling the crises he is largely responsible for creating.
Second, the right track/wrong track numbers have blown up in Trump’s face. According to the RealClearPolitics average, 70 percent of the country thinks we are on the wrong track. Americans know they are out of work. They know their lives have been disrupted. They know their kids are losing months and months of education. They don’t even get college football. Trump even managed to screw up the post office. No matter how many times Trump says he regrets nothing and nothing is his fault, it does not work that way. He is president. He is in charge. The results are awful.
Third, both Biden and Harris have deprived Trump of the “socialist” target Republicans yearned to confront. Yes, the Democrats have a robust and progressive agenda, but they are not outlawing private health-care insurance. They are not condemning capitalism. The charge that they are crazy leftists simply falls flat.
What kind of nutty stuff are they doing? Offering subsidized child care so working parents can get back to their jobs. That does not sound like socialism to anyone outside the right-wing fever swamps. An infrastructure plan isn’t radical; in fact, Trump has tried over and over again to launch one but has been too incompetent to pull it off. Strengthening Obamacare? Most Americans don’t think that is socialism. They like it. What is radical is going to court to eliminate the entire Affordable Care Act. It is apparent that the radicals in the election are the Republicans, whose hostility to government and loyalty to the donor class have created a sort of dystopian nightmare where only the plutocrats have the resources to fend for themselves.
It is not impossible for the race to tighten. It would certainly help Republicans if they kept Trump tied up in that underground bunker, out of sight and out of the news. However, barring an unforeseen disaster, the Biden-Harris team looks on track to claim a commanding victory. It is telling that the Biden camp’s biggest concern these days is neither Trump nor their own ticket, but rather Trump’s efforts to delegitimize and disrupt an election he in all likelihood is going to lose — by a lot.
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