[ad_1]
The final leg of a US presidential campaign is usually an uninterrupted combination of travel, caffeine, and adrenaline. But as the worst pandemic in a century hits the United States, Joe Biden is taking a more low-key approach.
Since choosing California Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate on August 11, Biden has had 22 days in which he made no public appearances, held only virtual fundraisers, or ventured from his Delaware home solely. for the church, based on an analysis of its schedules. She made 12 visits outside of Delaware during that period, including a trip to Washington scheduled for Friday to pay her respects to the late Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Carolyn Kaster / AP
The final leg of a presidential campaign is usually a continuous mix of travel, caffeine and adrenaline. But as the worst pandemic in a century looms over the United States, Joe Biden is taking a more low-key approach.
During the same time, the president of the United States, Donald Trump, made 24 trips that took him to 17 different states, not counting a personal visit to New York to see his sick brother in the hospital or weekend golf outings. .
Biden’s aides insist his approach is intentional, showing their respect for public health guidelines aimed at preventing the spread of the coronavirus and presenting a responsible contrast to Trump, who has resumed large-scale campaign rallies, sometimes over the top. of objections from local officials. Still, some Democrats say it’s critical that Biden infuse his campaign with more energy.
READ MORE:
* 2020 US Elections: Donald Trump Touts Military Achievements as He and Joe Biden commemorate September 11
* Where the US presidential election will be won and lost.
* Election in the United States: Democrats make it official, nominate Joe Biden to face Donald Trump
* Coronavirus: Joe Biden calls Donald Trump a ‘fool’ for mocking masks and ‘stoking deaths’
Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said not traveling due to the pandemic was a “pretty lame excuse.”
“I thought he had his own plane,” Hinojosa said. “You don’t have to sit with a space between another person on a commercial airline like I would.”
Hinojosa argued that Biden prioritizing visits to Texas and Arizona could boost Latino participation and potentially reduce pressure on him to sweep up Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, where he has focused much of his travels thus far.
“We are campaigning safely and effectively, and our message is reaching voters in battle states and generating the enthusiasm and energy we need to defeat Donald Trump,” said Biden’s spokesman TJ Ducklo.
The race between Biden and Trump has been generally steady for months. Biden has held a comfortable lead in most national polls and has an edge, albeit a narrower one, in many of the states on the battlefield that will decide the election.
But polls that showed competitive careers or even Democratic advantages in traditionally Republican states proved false indicators for Democrats in 2016.
Four years later, Biden faces persistent questions about whether his campaign is organizing and connecting with voters. When she visited Charlotte, North Carolina, on Wednesday for a black economic summit, Collette Alston, president of the local African American Caucus, said she only found out a day in advance when she saw it on television.
Only 16 people attended the event and Alston cautioned that Biden was not reaching the locals she thinks he needs, “the people who say, I don’t care, I really don’t want to vote.”
“I think he can win in North Carolina,” Alton said. “Can you earn it based on what you are doing right now? No. That is not the way to win it. ”
Biden’s transitional state visits often seem tailor-made for a television package: a small roundtable or a socially estranged town hall, always with fewer than 25 people; occasionally, a stop at a local business or a visit with the lifeguards; and then hours of back-to-back interviews with the local media.
Beyond traveling more, some Democrats are urging Biden to spread his message. While he has given independent speeches on topics such as criminal justice reform, climate change and, last weekend, the Supreme Court vacancy, Biden largely ignores those topics during his campaign stops. When presented to voters, he generally focuses on the virus and the mismanagement of the Trump administration.
When a grand jury decided Wednesday not to press charges against police officers directly involved in Breonna Taylor’s murder, it offered its condolences to her mother, but declined to comment on the details of the case on camera. She later issued a more detailed written statement.
David Axelrod, a former strategist and adviser to Barack Obama, said the Biden campaign is “smart” to focus on the pandemic because it is an “anchor around the president’s neck.” But he said it would be a “missed opportunity” for Biden. if he didn’t talk more about the Supreme Court in the future, especially the impact it could have on healthcare.
“The future of the Affordable Care Act and, in particular, the future of protections for people with pre-existing conditions is a very close issue and it is what led the Democrats to victory in 2018,” he said. Axelrod.
Biden’s aides say the relatively light timing, small events and message discipline reflect the biggest problem still facing most Americans today: the coronavirus pandemic. Biden has also sought to provide a responsible contrast to Trump and his rallies, where thousands forgo masks.
“Every time Trump shows up and has a rally without masks and says this is over the top, Democrats are winning the battle for Covid,” said Jim Kessler, executive vice president of the moderate Democratic group Third Way.
Biden maintains a vigorous schedule even when he’s not traveling. His campaign has become a fundraising powerhouse through primarily virtual events. It raised a record $ 364 million ($ 555 million) in August that has allowed it to cover the airwaves across the country and spend more than Trump.
Still, Trump sees the contrast in travel as an opportunity to argue that his busy schedule shows he is beating Biden. The president took advantage of Biden’s campaign announcement shortly before 9:30 a.m. Thursday that he would not have any public events that day.
Biden spent the day preparing for his first debate against Trump next week.
“Did you see he did a cover this morning again?” Trump said of Biden during a rally Thursday night in an airport hangar in Jacksonville, Florida. “A cover is when you say you are not campaigning today. So it covers up all the time. … I’m in Texas. I am in Ohio. I am in North Carolina, South Carolina. I am in Michigan. I’m everywhere. ”
Biden’s aides respond that they see evidence in public and private polls that the virus remains a priority for most voters, and that they have a compelling case for claiming that much of the crisis is Trump’s fault. They also say their focus on small, high-impact events pays off.
Steve Helber / AP
Jill Biden, wife of US Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, speaks with military families in Norfolk, Virginia.
Still, the cautious approach is not shared by Biden’s wife, Jill, who has already ventured to Maine and spent Thursday making four stops in Virginia. She is leaving for Iowa, another state that her husband has yet to visit in recent months, on Saturday.
Hillary Scholten, a Democrat seeking an Open House seat in Michigan, spent a morning last week touring a food bank in Grand Rapids, the state’s second-largest city, with Jill Biden. She is aware that Joe Biden may not follow suit.
“People would want to see it here,” Scholten said. “That said, there is a global pandemic.”
