Democrats need to face the ugly truth that their presumptive nominee, Joseph R. Biden Jr. (D-Delaware), has a respect problem.
Millions of Americans dislike, disrespect, and distrust Biden. Many African-Americans, for example, only support Biden because of his association with former President Barack Obama (D-Illinois).
Unfortunately, there is no evidence African-Americans like or respect Biden. Instead, blacks support Biden because he was Obama’s vice president. African Americans respect and admire Obama, they tolerate Biden.
Can Biden win America’s Respect?
Such dislike, distrust, and disrespect do not create an insurmountable barrier.
The number of Americans who respect President Donald J. Trump (R-Florida) is small. Yet, 62.980 million Americans, including most Republicans, voted for the Donald in 2016.
Trump proves that a clever politician, such as Biden, can win votes without respect, with a good strategy. However, winning those votes will be tough, and the strategies needed to gain that support will offend many Democrats.
Fortunately, Biden seems flexible enough to take those steps. Unfortunately, there are elements in the Democratic Party, in the media, and on the left who will attack Biden – if he takes the steps necessary to win the election.
Here are Few Steps Biden could take to win voters’ respect and win
Go on Fox News
Nielsen estimates that Fox News was the most watched US cable network between 13 April and 19 April 2020 with around 3.7 million viewers a day.
I think Biden needs to appear on the major Fox News shows. In particular, Biden needs to appear on Tucker Carlson Tonight. Carlson attracted 4.9 million viewers between 30 March and 5 April, Multichannel reports.
Biden can reach millions of older voters and show them he is not a monster by appearing on Fox News. I think Biden could win many votes by going on Fox News and discussing his plan to raise Social Security.
POS estimates that 20% of Fox New Viewers were over 65 and 30% of Fox news viewers were 50-64 in January 2019. I suspect many of those viewers; including a large percentage of MAGA hat wearers, will vote for any candidate willing to raise Social Security.
2. Go on Joe Rogan’s Podcast
Rogan claims his podcast The Joe Rogan Experience achieved over 200 million downloads a month in September 2019, Insider Audio reports.
In contrast, Multichannel News estimates, CNN had 1.9 million viewers and MSNBC had two million viewers during the week of 13 April to 19 April 2020. Thus, Rogan could have tens of millions more viewers as Fox News, as CNN and MSNBC. Yet the Woke Left tells Biden to ignore Rogan because Rogan is skeptical of the Woke position on transsexuals.
People, especially men under 50, pay attention to Rogan and listen to what Joe has to say. Few people under 50 pay attention to cable TV news or listen to it. If Biden wants to win, he will need younger people and Rogan is one way to reach them. Many young men, in particular, trust Rogan in the same way their grandparents trusted Walter Cronkite and Ed Sullivan.
Yes many leftists will criticize Biden for going on Joe Rogan and Fox News. However, I think those leftists will vote for Biden in November under any circumstances. Biden needs to go after the undecided voters; such as young men who listen to Rogan, and senior citizens skeptical of Trump.
3. Go on all the Podcasts
In today’s world, people under 50 do not listen to radio or watch TV news. They listen to Podcasts. Thus, Biden needs to go on all the popular podcasts he can. Joe can go on all those podcasts from his basement while sheltering at home.
Podcasts I recommend Biden appear on include Michael Moore’s Rumble, Pod Save America, Useful Idiots, The Hill’s Rising, Vox’s the Weeds, the Ezra Klein Show, and the Chapo Tap House. Podcasting is one way Biden can get around the corporate media filters and reach ordinary Americans who ignore corporate media.
Importantly, Biden can use the podcasts to reach out to the Left. I think Hillary R. Clinton’s (D-New York) spectacular failure in 2016 shows a Democrat cannot with without the Left.
4. Reach Out to the Left
Remember, Trump appealed to the Right through digital media and won. Biden could use the same strategy but direct it to the Left and win.
In that strategy, Biden has a secret weapon in the form of his friend U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). The only reason I will vote for Biden is because Sanders supports him.
There are millions of others who feel the same way. Hence, I think Bernie needs to get out on the Podcasts and Fox News now and start campaigning for Biden.
5. Pick a Good Vice Presidential Nominee
One of my greatest 2020 fears is that the Democratic establishment will force Biden to pick the whitest piece of moderate milquetoast they can find as a running mate. Pete Buttigieg (D-Indiana), for example.
That strategy failed miserably in 2016. One reason Trump won in 2016 was that he picked a strong conservative running mate, in the form of Mike Pence (R-Indiana). Meanwhile, Hillary chose U.S. Senator Time Kaine (D-Virginia), the whitest moderate around.
I think Biden needs to pick a strong black leftist for his running mate if he wants to win. I believe the ideal running mate for Biden is Stacy Abrams (D-Georgia). Abrams is a leftist, she’s black, she’s a woman, she’s 46, and she’s a southerner. Biden will need women, blacks, people under 50, leftists, and southerners to win.
Abrams is an aggressive campaigner. Plus, Abrams is campaigning for the Vice presidential job, and has no baggage as a former presidential candidate.
Many leftists will vote for Biden-Abrams, with the secret hope Biden drops dead on Inauguration Day. Just as many Republicans secretly pray for Trump’s health to fail. Yes, that’s cynical, but it gets votes.
Winning elections is about getting votes, not pleasing moderates’ sensibilities.
6. Do Not Obsess on Trump
I think Biden needs to make the election about what he will do for America, not what’s wrong with Donald J. Trump.
Americans are smart and they already know why they hate Trump. Americans need to learn why Biden could be better, not how bad Trump is.
There are hundreds of podcasters, bloggers, pundits, celebrities and journalists reminding voters how terrible Trump is every day. I think parroting their propaganda is a superb way for Biden to turn voters off.
Biden needs to concentrate on his positive messages of rebuilding America or helping the middle class. Meanwhile, there are many other Democrats who could go after Trump as attack dogs and trolls.
7. Recruit a Troll Army to Attack Trump from all Directions
A smart strategy for Biden is to say little about Trump but have an army of attack dogs and trolls needling Trump with insults, jibes, criticisms, and mockery.
For example, have top standup comics; such as Hannibal Buress, Amy Silverman, and George Lopez troll Trump with Tweets and gags. Such a strategy could distract Trump and have the president wasting his time feuding with comics instead of campaigning.
Other attack dogs Biden can recruit, include politicians; such as Attorney General Keith Ellison (D-Minnesota), U.S. Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York), former President Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas), former President Barack Obama (D-Illinois), US Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii), US Senator Kamala Harris (D-California), Andrew Yang (D-New York), US Senator Liz Warren (D-Massachusetts), Stacy Abrams (D-Georgia), and Bernie. Filmmaker and podcaster Michael Moore, newscasters, such as Krystal Ball, actors such as Samuel L. Jackson, Martin Sheen, Charley Sheen, and Dwayne the Rock Johnson, professional talking heads such as James Carville, and Hillary R. Clinton to troll Trump on other fronts.
Now is a perfect time to build the troll army because many talented people are sitting at home with nothing to do because of coronavirus. Many of those talents are celebrities with huge social media followings so they could reach millions of voters. Moreover, some of those people are talented satirists and communicators who can easily trick and gaslight Trump.
Such a Troll Army could drive Trump crazy and destroy his reputation. In other words, the troll army could gaslight Trump and destroy him.
The spectacle of the President of the United States spending all his time feuding with standup comedians, actors, Hillary, and James Carville could turn Trump into a laughingstock. Additionally, the image of Trump feuding with black, Asian, and Hispanic celebrities will remind the voters of the Donald’s racism.
Importantly, the troll army will cost the Democrats little or nothing because all these celebrities will need to do is post or Tweet. The media will magnify the troll army’s attacks for free.
Additionally, Biden will have plausible deniability. If a troll says or does something offensive, Biden can deny any association with that person. Thus, the trolls will be free to the places Biden cannot, and make the attacks Biden cannot.
In the final analysis, Biden is not a great candidate, but neither is Donald J. Trump. I think Biden could beat Trump with a decent strategy. Thus, I think Biden’s strategy will determine the election even if Biden never gets my respect.
Originally published at https://marketmadhouse.com on April 28, 2020.
