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Putting a marker down today for what may have been the most overlooked political story of the year: Joe Biden ran a superb presidential campaign.
Once we get election results this may become conventional wisdom or be seen (wrongly) to have been disproven. 1/x
Once we get election results this may become conventional wisdom or be seen (wrongly) to have been disproven. 1/x
Biden ran well in the primaries and in the general. He did it as an underdog and as a frontrunner. He did it against normal candidates and against the most abnormal candidate in living memory. 2/x
In the primary, he was right--and most of the pundits wrong--to bet his campaign on black voters in SC. Equally important, he emerged from an ideologically contentious primary with almost zero intraparty rancor. 3/x
I'd envisioned a tense detente, a la Clinton-Obama in 2008 or Sanders-Clinton in 2016. Instead, the party has been as united as I can remember it--just months after the dominant story was of the huge rift between moderate and progressive wings of the party. 4/x
Yes, obviously, that party unity is being driven to a great degree by Donald Trump. But anyone who thinks there aren’t a million ways in which a Democratic nominee could have caused serious rifts in their coalition probably hasn’t been paying too much attention to the party. 5/x
However he did it--personal relationships, behind-the-scenes wrangling--Biden persuaded diverse Dems and Dem constituencies that they'd have a seat at the table. His primary competitors have come out strong for him. 6/x
In the general election, he again defied the conventional pundit wisdom that he needed to "get out there more." Day after day, week after week, month after month, he allowed Trump to be the story, secure in the knowledge that it would usually be a bad story. 7/x
(It's ironic that a lot of people have made the "Trump is his own worst enemy" case, but that few of them extrapolated to the conclusion that Biden was correct to stay out of Trump's way as he spent months self-destructing.) 8/x
Part of Biden's closing argument is that he'll be a president you don't need to think about or see on TV every single day. His low-key campaign was a prologue and test run of that idea, and voters seem to have been quite happy with it. 9/x
His choice of Harris as his running mate was another choice that gave everyone something: a historical barrier breaker who's also near the center of the party. It also signaled no hard feelings, even to arguably his most aggressive former opponent. 10/x
Biden's campaign was also excellent in a million tiny ways, from getting the NYT security guard from his edit board meeting to nominate him at the convention to signing Sam Elliott to do the voiceover for some superb closing ads. 11/x
But my most persuasive evidence for the quality of Biden's campaign is personal. I was basically a pragmatic but unenthusiastic Biden guy in the primaries. Over the course of the campaign, he has won me over to a degree I hadn't imagined possible. 12/x
I've followed Biden at least somewhat since his first presidential run, when I was in college. I've edited stories about him. I know more about him than 99 percent of Americans. But the campaign reframed him in ways that were surprising to me. 13/x
Throughout his career, Biden was always considered--even by people who liked him--a pol who loved the sound of his own voice. But the Biden presented to America over the last several months is a listener, not a talker; a consoler, not a debater. 14/x
Again, yes, the contrast with Trump was crucial. But Biden used that contrast brilliantly. He understood that he needed to be Trump's opposite in demeanor, not merely ideology; that being associated with something as mundane as "decency" was a key to victory. 15/x
Was some of this simply due to the fact that he is slowing down as he approaches 78? Almost certainly. But again: Biden knew which elements of his persona to emphasize--esp., the man who has experienced loss but kept going--and which to downplay. 16/x
Back in Feb, I wanted Biden to be the nominee, but I was not enthusiastic at the prospect of his presidency. Now, I'm much more optimistic that he could prove the right person for this fraught moment. I know a lot of politics junkies who feel more or less the same. 17/x
Making you more enthusiastic for a candidate is the fundamental test of a campaign. In my case, that greater enthusiasm didn't affect my vote. But I'm pretty sure that, in the cases of millions of other Americans, it will. 18/18
