Instagram, podcasts and Fox News: Biden urged to get more creative amid coronavirus crisis
Dr. Anthony Fauci appeared with NBA star Steph Curry on Instagram Live last week to field questions about the coronavirus, an interview that reached tens of thousands of viewers and generated buzz with average Americans and celebrities even days later.
It’s the sort of creative communication approach some Democrats desperately want to see from their all-but-presumptive presidential nominee.
As Joe Biden enters his third week as a candidate confined by quarantine, an array of voices inside the Democratic Party believe his campaign needs to quickly become more innovative in deploying its message — or risk being roundly drowned out by the all-consuming coronavirus pandemic and a headline-grabbing president.
In interviews with more than a dozen Democratic operatives, elected officials and Biden allies, the emerging consensus is that the former vice president should be doing even more and thinking outside the box, tapping alternative mediums with nonpolitical audiences, driving local news in battleground states and at times, making a clear and more timely contrast with President Donald Trump than he’s done thus far.
“He should at least be doing Skypes with people who have recovered, find some athletes who have donated their salaries to help out some of these laid off workers,” said Michael Starr Hopkins, a Democratic strategist who advised John Delaney’s presidential campaign. “I think they have to do things that are creative and not run away from being apolitical.”
As he’s remained at his home in Wilmington, Del., Biden has fought to stay visible. Last week, he participated in virtual town halls, an online happy hour with young voters and popular TV programs like Jimmy Kimmel Live and The View. He also sat down for an interview on Meet the Press on Sunday, and launched a new podcast Monday named after one of his signature sayings, “Here’s the Deal.”
“Why am I doing this?,” Biden tells listeners in the initial episode. “So we can keep talking to each other.”
But many allies think there are still more opportunities for Biden to reach out to voters during a period where the presidential campaign has largely faded from public view.
“He should become a fixture on cable — even Fox. … He should do talk radio and podcasts, local TV in swing states, newspaper, magazine, wire interviews, submit op eds,” said Matt Bennett, a Democratic operative who founded the centrist group Third Way. “He should be a daily presence in our lives.”
The more high-stakes strategic question is exactly how frequently and forcefully Biden should confront Trump, who has described himself as a “wartime president” and is holding widely covered daily news briefings with pronouncements on the virus that are often complicated by exaggerations, unsubstantiated claims and outright falsehoods.
On Monday morning, Trump called into Fox & Friends and derided his likely opponent. “If Sleepy Joe was president, he wouldn’t even know what’s going on,” the president mocked.
Some Democrats say Biden can’t afford to wait for the next scheduled interview request to respond, given how often Trump is speaking and how rapidly the news cycle moves.
“Every time Trump goes to a lectern, Biden should go to a lectern two minutes later, or go on a show, shot for shot and get inside Trump’s head,” Starr Hopkins said.
Former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart said Biden should reserve time in the evening with news networks to point out what Trump has lied about. “The worst thing that can happen is his voice gets lost in this crisis,” Lockhart said.
Biden’s transition to becoming an online candidate has been bumpy. His initial virtual appearances before a newly installed camera in his home were panned by observers as rigid and uncomfortable. A livestream question-and-answer session with reporters last week has netted just over 16,000 YouTube views, a small fraction of the nearly 200,000 views Bernie Sanders’ coronavirus livestream has attracted.
Meanwhile, Trump’s boasting of drawing between 8 and 12 million viewers at his daily briefings, where his combative language and fiery exchanges with reporters are consistently replayed on the air and online.
“Sure, it’s a concern. Campaigns are won and lost in large part by your ability to convey a message to voters,” said Rep. Anthony Brown of Maryland, a Biden supporter. “He doesn’t get nearly the visibility that the president commands by virtue of his daily press conferences, but he still is looking very presidential.”
Assuming a presidential-like presence online would be arduous for any candidate, but for an old-school 77-year-old politician like Biden, whose most compelling moments are found in unscripted human interactions, the task is even more challenging.
Some Democrats see the current environment as unwinnable for Biden, and say the campaign should instead be focused on longer-term planning that marshals talent and resources for the fall, when there’s still a chance normal campaign activity could resume.
“There’s no way for Biden to seem presidential from his basement. It’s nothing against him, it’s just impossible,” said an operative who ran the campaign of one of Biden’s Democratic primary rivals. “He should definitely be on TV every day criticizing Trump’s policies and inaction, but best-case scenario is breaking even, not winning the day.”
Closing the financial gap may be Biden’s most urgent charge, but one that is hamstrung by donors who are accustomed to in-person access to the candidate and an economic collapse that has ravaged retirement accounts.
Heading into March, Biden had just $12 million in the bank, $6 million less than Sanders and a staggering $82 million less than Trump. He announced raising $33 million during the first half of the month, by far the most successful fundraising stretch of his candidacy.
A digital ad from the Biden campaign that attacks Trump for feuding with Democratic governors over coronavirus resources has earned wide acclaim and racked up 7 million views.
Super PACs like Unite The Country and Priorities USA have been filling Biden’s void for the time being, with ad blitzes in battleground states.
But David Plouffe, who managed Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign, said there should be a Michigan version of Biden’s spot on the airwaves in that state “ASAP.”
“Time is of the essence for the Biden campaign to really begin running the general election,” Plouffe said on a Yahoo News podcast. “The Trump campaign has a huge organization [and] all the money in the world to drive turnout as high as they can in every battleground state, which is what I’m most concerned about. … The Biden campaign has an acute need to really up their game.”
The bright side for Biden is that even as Trump’s approval numbers have ticked up during the crisis, he’s held onto his polling advantage.
But the coronavirus is threatening to upend the flow of the campaign for months ahead, postponing primaries that could formally secure Biden’s position as the nominee, possibly relegating July’s Democratic National Convention to an online affair and keeping Biden at the periphery of voters’ concerns.
“He has to proceed with a first ‘do no harm’ mentality, cause who knows what things will look like when hopefully this ebbs,” said a Democratic consultant who requested anonymity to speak candidly. “But also wait for moments of opportunity. That’s the wall you’re up against when you’re the challenger.”
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