Different voters, one Biden message: It’s Trump’s fault
By Matt Viser and Annie Linskey,
Kevin Lamarque Reuters
In an urban church near looted downtown buildings in Kenosha, Wis., Joe Biden told the diverse group in the pews that President Trump was the accelerant for the country’s burning racial divide. An hour later, in a leafy Milwaukee suburb that is 90 percent White, Biden discussed the challenges of going back to school when districts are struggling to reopen — a problem they wouldn’t have, he said, if Trump hadn’t bungled the coronavirus response.
The next day, Biden said in a nationally televised speech that the nation’s recovery would be racing ahead if not for one man, Trump, whose coronavirus response he said cratered the economy.
Biden has been under intense pressure from allies to hasten his campaign pace — but from there the advice has diverged, with some favoring a strategy meant to attract some White working-class voters and others Black voters who are mobilizing and calling for racial justice. Amid the frenzy of recommendations, Biden has settled on a through line meant to appeal to everyone: Trump is the reason for all of America’s most pressing ills, no matter which one matters most to a specific audience.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/video/politics/democrats-react-to-ongoing-protests-amid-clashes-with-police/2020/09/06/a4aae34a-ccb0-4f66-95dc-578af316de9a_video.html
A newly energized Biden campaign last week demonstrated its biggest burst of campaign activity in six months, as an internal debate over how to position Biden for the rush to November led to a far more aggressive candidate, a rewritten campaign message and a robust travel schedule.
While the tension over responding to the nation’s urban protests and Trump’s new emphasis on “law and order” prompted adjustments last week, many Biden advisers say they still believe the election will be decided on Trump’s response to the coronavirus, which has disrupted the economy and continues to be a major health crisis that is killing nearly 1,000 Americans each day.
“This is foundational. . . . This is where the public is, this is their focus, this is what they believe this election is about,” said Mike Donilon, the campaign’s top strategist. “The president tried to reformulate it as a law and order campaign. . . . There was a lot of speculation that when he did that, that would work to his benefit and drive the electorate there.”
“That didn’t happen,” he added. “The public is still primarily focused on the central issue in their life, which is the virus. They’re still very much focused on the fact that there’s not really a plan that they see in place, that the death toll continues to rise, that the economy continues to suffer, that their kids can’t really go back to school — and their lives are still upended. That is the fundamental truth of this election.”
Carlos Javier Ortiz for The Washington Post
A Biden flag decorates a pole in Kenosha, Wis., on Thursday.
The divisions over which voters Biden should seek out to win the White House stemmed not only from long-standing Democratic disputes but also from the quirks of Biden’s own coalition. He eased to the nomination because of strong support among Black voters, particularly older ones, but also has long had more cache than many other Democrats among White voters in suburbs and rural areas.
The tension since this summer has rested on the question of whether those groups’ goals had separated due to urban unrest or whether they would unify in a shared desire to defeat Trump.
In the past week — besides the advice Biden heard from backers like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), both of whom demanded more attention to their state — two strains competed for prominence.
Some worried that Biden has been talking too much about protests against police treatment of Black Americans, potentially alienating White voters. Concern grew not only as Trump focused on the lawlessness that arose from some of the protests, but amid polling signs that support was plummeting for Black Lives Matter protests, particularly in such states as Wisconsin and Minnesota.
Then, after Biden released an new ad on Wednesday calling out lawlessness and looting, some top advisers heard complaints that it should not have relied so heavily on images of destroyed downtown buildings and clashes in the streets, lest it offend Black voters by distracting from the actions of police.
“We’re condemning violence and you have a problem with that?” an incredulous adviser responded, recounting the exchange on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Angela Rye, a Democratic strategist and former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, said Biden “should be focusing on a winning message of justice and equity rather than doubling down on Trump rhetoric.”
“Law and order messaging is dangerous and it is the very thing that has cost Black people their lives,” said Rye, who has urged the campaign to focus instead on the peaceful nature of most protests. “Law and order means shoot to kill Black people.”
Joshua Lott for The Washington Post
Trump supporters outside the Kenosha County Courthouse argue with counterprotesters on Tuesday.
Trump’s campaign, meanwhile, has delighted in forcing Biden to spend money to defend his position on the protests, after months of struggling to shift the campaign conversation away from the coronavirus pandemic. At campaign events, Trump continues to both attack Black Lives Matter protests and try to appeal to Black voters by boasting of his economic and criminal justice reform record.
“Why did Joe Biden actually have to go out in public and say, ‘Do I look like a radical socialist with a soft spot for rioters?’ Because to most Americans, that’s exactly what he is when he excuses the rioters and calls them ‘peaceful protesters’ and blames law enforcement for inciting the violence,” Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh said. “Voters in all communities can see that President Trump has stood for law and order, while Joe Biden is too weak to stand up to the radical, anti-police wing of his party.”
While some Biden aides wanted him to take on Trump’s law and order message, others were upset, believing that he was allowing Trump to goad him and set the agenda. Biden himself on Friday ruminated over whether he should respond to the things that Trump says, worried that it could distract from his own agenda.
“It’s a conundrum,” Biden said, amid a flurry of questions from reporters in which he was asked to respond to things that Trump had recently said or done.
Biden’s attempt to deliver an anti-Trump message to different audiences seems destined to continue when he travels on Wednesday to Michigan. Tentative plans include a stop in Detroit, where a low turnout of Black voters in 2016 helped defeat Hillary Clinton, and a meeting with autoworkers in suburban Macomb County. Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich) has been urging Biden to come to the crucial swing county that twice voted for Obama before Trump easily won it in 2016.
On Friday, both Biden and Trump are scheduled to be in Shanksville, Pa., for the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The Biden team says the conventions and the burst of activity after them did little to change the dynamics of the race, stoking their optimistic view of their chances.
The campaign raised a record-breaking $364.5 million in August — and brought in 1.5 million new donors — which has enabled it to outspend Trump’s campaign. Biden’s campaign has spent $22 million in Pennsylvania on TV and radio ads, compared with $10.3 million from Trump. Biden has also far outspent Trump in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Arizona.
In Wisconsin, the campaign has 242 staffers, targeting women and rural voters. In Pennsylvania, it has 347 staffers trying to turn out Democrats in Philadelphia and swing voters in the surrounding counties who sided with the party in 2018 races.
Minnesota, a state Democrats haven’t lost since 1972, ranks as Biden’s top defensive target, and the campaign is also eyeing typically Republican Georgia, where 112 staffers are aiming at an increasingly diverse electorate.
“We understand that we are in for a fight to the very end. We have no illusion about how tough this race is and how tough it will be to the end,” Donilon said. “But the truth is there has been a pretty consistent standing for the vice president in the most important states, in the battlegrounds.”
Mandel Ngan
AFP/Getty Images
President Trump speaks at a campaign event in Latrobe, Pa., on Thursday.
The campaign also is putting in place several voter-protection efforts, with hotlines in 15 battleground states to monitor any problems voters have in casting ballots. Campaign aides have declined to detail any plans to handle the time period directly after Nov. 3, when some Democrats fear results might not be clear from mail-in ballots and Trump could move to declare victory based on early results.
“There are big states that will be called on election night. And there will be a significant amount of the vote that will be called on election night,” said Jen O’Malley Dillon, the Biden campaign manager. “So at the end of the day, I think that for us, our job is to make sure we get the most votes.”
Biden’s new more aggressively public strategy also culminates months of discussion inside his campaign over how to handle health concerns, an effort to both model what they think is responsible behavior but also to protect him from getting the coronavirus.
It is not an idle concern for the oldest candidate to ever be nominated by a major party, one who at 77 is in the most at-risk age ground and who, until recently, was not being regularly tested for the virus.
Those around him have long been fearful that he could catch the virus, which is one reason he spent months largely confined to the basement of his Wilmington, Del., home. But in recent weeks, the desire to insulate him has collided with the need to get on the campaign trail, leading advisers to recommend he take on a more robust schedule.
Biden said he would not do any “irresponsible rallies,” and his campaign is reviewing guidelines in various states to make sure they comply. Most events, advisers say, would be done in small group settings. If a state sees a spike in coronavirus cases, campaign events could be canceled.
“What you’ll see from our travel is that it will always put safety first. That will be fundamental,” O’Malley Dillon said. “You’ll never see the vice president with a big large crowd, without people with masks on, because it’s just not safe and every expert in the country has said that.”
Kevin Lamarque
Reuters
Biden listens as wife Jill Biden speaks about safely reopening schools during a campaign stop in Wauwatosa, Wis., on Thursday.
Biden’s campaign has closely monitored the daily cases and deaths, and its says that in some places the virus has leveled off enough for him to travel. His campaign headquarters in Philadelphia is not likely to reopen; staffers are now spread around the country and some have given up the apartments where they once lived near the now-empty office.
The small number of aides in regular contact with Biden, and who are allowed inside his home, are tested regularly. His medical advisers have also determined that he can fly on chartered planes, as long as they are sanitized properly. So far none of his trips have been overnight, which prevents the need to stay in a hotel.
“The vice president has been trying to press the flesh for a while because that’s what he’s best at,” said Rep. Cedric L. Richmond (D-La.), co-chairman of Biden’s campaign. “It’s now apparent that we can do it in a safe and responsible manner and not put people at risk.”
“It’s not all about his health — it’s about the people who will come out, their health too. We’re not going to put people’s lives in jeopardy,” Richmond added. “There are ways to campaign. Having a speech on the lawn of the White House with no one wearing masks is not the responsible way to do it.”
Michael Scherer contributed to this report.
