Biden has lead in most polls — so why are Dems worried?
In his first weeks as the presumptive Democratic nominee, Joe Biden went days at a time with no public events. His campaign staff in early April was about half the size of Hillary Clinton’s at the same time in 2016. A muchtouted virtual rally last week was riddled with glitches. And Biden and his advisers remain stuck at home, uncertain if their Philadelphia headquarters will ever reopen.
Less than six months before Election Day, Biden finds himself in an extraordinary position: Party leaders have quickly united around him, and he has an edge over President Trump in most polls. But he has yet to prove himself as a formidable nominee who can set the political and policy agenda for Democrats and the nation, and his campaign has so far not solved the unprecedented challenges of running for the White House from the seclusion of his home.
Biden’s inability to influence the debate about the coronavirus and the nation’s economic collapse has worried some Democratic allies, donors and former Obama administration officials who want Biden to be more visible. He rarely goes on offense against Trump in ways that have lasting impact. And his tentative handling of his biggest test recently — responding to the sexual assault allegation by Tara Reade — prompted skepticism among some progressives and others about his instincts and his team’s agility.
Trump has his own enormous problems politically, and he and his campaign have yet to get a handle on Biden, veering from attacks over China to personal jabs at his mental acuity and his son Hunter. Still, even some Democrats who are optimistic about Biden’s chances say they are worried about whether he and his operation are ready for the campaign of personal destruction that Trump is expected to accelerate.
The circumstances could hardly be more difficult for Biden. He lacks Trump’s bully pulpit, and the coronavirus crisis has eliminated the kind of intimate retail politicking at which he excels. But interviews with more than two dozen donors, advisers, activists and party strategists paint a portrait of an operation that is also exhibiting some of the same difficulties that proved troublesome in the primary: slow decisionmaking processes and multiple power centers across Biden’s sprawling political network, generational differences between some longtime Biden advisers and younger operatives, inadequate staffing and a tendency to be reactive in the face of controversy.
David Axelrod, who served as chief strategist to Obama, said he thought the Biden campaign was “working very hard to get up to speed and doing it under difficult circumstances.” But he cautioned: “As much as Trump is wounded, he is dangerous as a candidate. He is unbridled by any kind of norms. He has the power of the presidency. He is relentless.”