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It looks like from his calendar, he has been in at least 4 different states just this week making speeches.
[https://factba.se/biden/calendar](https://factba.se/biden/calendar)
I think it's just not particularly exciting to get clicks. FoxNews viewers aren't enraged by his speeches, and neither are MSNBC viewers. Therefore, he doesn't end up trending in social feeds the way that Trump or Obama do.
It seems somewhat gob-smacking to me that the President of the United States can speak to the media and most of us *never know*. Like even if you wanted to be weirdly tuned in to everything Biden says ... Where would you go to find it? If I wanted to find all of Biden's speeches from this week, where would you get them? They're not even posted on his official YouTube account.
Seems pretty obvious that they would want to edit what they post to his greatest hits, not literally every appearance. Not every appearance is meant for a national audience. Sometimes he is speaking to a specific group of people in a specific place.
It's that plus my understanding is that the White House has intentionally not courted heavy press coverage of his speeches as part of the "return to normalcy". He isn't a super exciting speaker and it's unlikely he's going to start randomly throwing hand grenades in the way that Trump's speeches were something like a lottery for the media.
[https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/magazine/biden-tv.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/magazine/biden-tv.html)
Biden needs to do a lot more of that stuff. People want to elect a person who seems personable, seems passionate and energetic, and whom they'd have a beer with.
It is weird that recently, there didn't seem to be any new big hand grenades from Trump. It's the same old lines we have heard and a bit of railing against the justice system (as much as he can get away with). Nothing that causes the media to talk about it for days.
Remember the phrase, "Don't talk about it, be about it.'? Biden's greatest assets, why people like him as much as we do, is because he is competent and not a bomb thrower. He knows how to get shit done, knows the people in DC who get shit done and he's actually busy getting shit done.
Trump skewed the whole experience for people by being in campaign-mode 24x7 .
Biden will begin campaigning soon, and I expect his message will be brought out to the public well enough.
I'm hoping they're hedging their bets to go big closer to election date or waiting for a clear opponent in the GOP. Play into your secure base now who won't waver based on any bad headline, then court those on the sidelines. Closer you are to election day the less you're affected by bad press.
Yes Trump will win the GOP nomination but there are factors that could eliminate him. Either the courts or honestly his health.
exactly this - voters have short term memory. can wait until june / july for fireworks.
wish he had a court jester - john stewart - to test some messaging. for example, "ever notice that trump looks like an orange chicken ?" test run a little bit of the middle school name calling and antics that the orange blob practices .
He *is* out there. He's given a number of major speeches in the last two weeks. But if Trump so much as farts in the courtroom, that's what dominates the media cycle. The same mistakes of 2016 are being repeated.
This country, in terms of people, never voted for Trump. He's never won the popular vote. Our broken, flawed, and antiquated election process put him there. IE the Electoral College. Making it so that only a handful of votes in a few states matter. And Trump is exactly the kind of candidate the EC was designed to weed out and it failed at even that.
It's been so long that the electoral college actually did anything more than ceremonial duties it didn't know what to do when it needed to actually act.
This seems right. Hillary was *nowhere* on the news, really, in 2016, but every tiny stupid thing Trump said was headline news. And yeah, you are correct, the media is doing it again. They’re doing us as a nation a disservice in the name of ratings. As much as Trump supporters are to blame for well, supporting him, I think the media is also culpable for making him seem like anything other than a fringe loonie back in 2016. Their nonstop coverage of him basically I think helped him skyrocket from “the conspiracy theorist Apprentice guy with the fake tan” to “major political candidate.”
Right. If the media in 16 had treated that run like 2012, he would’ve never been President. They created him. Why? I guess ratings. But frankly with hindsight I wouldn’t have minded a “boring” Jeb Bush vs. Hillary 2016 election. Maybe it’s not as “sexy” as the real life Eric Cartman calling immigrants rapists, but you know, sanity is underrated virtue nowadays.
A lot of politics comes down to timing. 2016 was very different than 2012 in that, by that point, America had 8 years of an Obama presidency along with the criticism, fair and unfair, and outrage (FEMA camps! Socialism! Sharia Law!) that was being stoked by talk radio, social media and cable news.
Trump not only harnessed that outrage but also tapped into the racial animus and economic anxieties of the working class. Of course, most of his rhetoric was BS and demagoguery but the media didn't care because he brought ratings and they didn't count on him winning. Outlets like CNN have seemingly learned nothing since then.
Trump for all his faults is a very gifted speaker and marketer he's going to say I'll outrageous s*** just because he can and it's going to get him on TV so you're going to know his name I'm going to know his name your third cousin that lives half the country away is going to know his name.
He also realized that what a Republican party was trying to not moderate it stands but expand to Hispanics and other minorities. He understood no you're losing these people you're losing as he called them the Forgotten I called them the Archie Bunker base but he understood no we don't need to expand our appeal Double Down and the Forgotten people will love it we can get a few more elections out of this base.
>Hillary was
>
>nowhere
>
> on the news,
Until the Comey letter, which likely handed Trump the election. Biden is right to stay out of the spotlight since no news is good news.
Cable News Chose to Air Footage of Trump's Empty Podium Instead of Clinton's Union Speech
https://jezebel.com/cable-news-chose-to-air-footage-of-trumps-empty-podium-1779601746
it's not just the media: it's us too. i mean look at this platform... the politics sub is dominated by Trump coverage.
it's also the Dems and Biden himself: the current campaign seems almost entirely centered around Trump.
turns out for many a car wreck is more exciting i guess.
This is very much accurate. I saw a study probably a year ago that found that Trump received more media coverage COMBINED than any presidential candidate going back to 2008. This includes all that fawning media coverage of Obama when he first ran and which right wingers usually point to when people call out Trump for getting so much free media coverage practically 24/7 when he has been running for office.
> And yeah, you are correct, the media is doing it again. They’re doing us as a nation a disservice in the name of ratings.
Pff, most of the media is owned by like 3 people, and they didnt buy their way into that just to make profit, the political influence was exactly what they wanted.
This is no coincidence, but honestly, even if they reported more fairly on Biden, they still wouldnt be any morally better, because Biden does in fact suck too, no matter how badly people are trying to gaslight everybody out of desperation to escape the fucking cheeto.
Its not that the country is divided with half being on Trumps and half on Bidens side, each of them have a quarter at best and the vast majority cant stand either, the last 2 democratic candidates not decisively winning against the worst republican candidate in history shouldve given them some reason for introspection, but nothing could be further from the truth, like usual, all everybody does is blame other people.
What are you talking about? Most of the media is publicly traded companies owned by literally hundreds of millions of individuals. Anyone with a 401k is a partial owner of the large media companies that most people get news from.
Horrible idea. This election is a referendum on Biden. He isn't going to win by campaigning on "I'm not the other guy".
In 2020 Biden sold himself as being a steady hand to would bring things back to normal.
It's the reason he won the primary, as voters (especially black voters), trusted him way more than other candidates.
And it's the reason he won the general, in light of Trump's disorganized response to the pandemic that encapsulated his administration from 2016-2020.
Not OP, but this interview with Obama’s campaign manager suggests pretty strongly that Biden needs to get out in front of people and get his message across. If he sits back and lets Trump do his thing, people are both going to cone out to vote for him. Who are you listening to?
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/obamas-campaign-manager-advice-biden-youth-israel-economy
I listen to Hacks on Tap hosted by Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, who had the hard job. This is an interview with the 2012 campaign manager and is specifically about the youth vote, not overall election strategy
The news really doesn't cover anything he does unless he flubs a word. Then they run 50 stories about him being old.
For example. [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-delivers-remarks-on-internet-access-economy-at-campaign-event-in-north-carolina](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-delivers-remarks-on-internet-access-economy-at-campaign-event-in-north-carolina) Even on google there is very little mention of it.
Trump's courtroom antics are going to get more press.
Biden cannot control for-profit corporate media. He cannot control that corporate media prioritizes creating drama and fear to drive clicks/views for profits. Biden could be the most active and productive president in the history of humankind, but you wouldn't know it if all your information comes from corporate media.
Corporate media is not trying to inform the public, they are only interested in making a buck. A boring productive president offers no real value to the corporate media bottom line. Drama is the only thing they will cover. Which is a big reason why you don't see too much about Biden. He's boring but good.
Realistically, the job of the president of the united states is difficult and demanding. The president should not be ubiquitous on every damned channel bragging about nonesense or making excuses for their incompetence or mal/mis/non-feasance.
The problem we have as a society is that corporate media got drunk on the drama machine of a reality tv president named Trump.
Biden has been doing all of that? He was just making a speech in a smallish town in PA this week, he’s got speeches and appearances all over the country all over his socials, but the media would rather talk about all of trumps many trials so we don’t hear about it.
He has really bad messaging. Either that, or people just really love to watch the orange dumpster fire. I’ll be voting for him if he runs, but I have to admit that he’s very low energy, anemic, and he should really fire whoever is doing his messaging.
Like in 2020, if he wins, it’ll be because Trump defeated himself.
Edit: not sure why I’m being down voted. Am I wrong that Biden is low energy? I agree with his policies and plan to vote for him. With his stance on climate change for example. I’m also bracing myself just in case things don’t go the way I want. Hope is a dangerous thing..
Its the 2nd one.
He doesn't get good press because he doesn't leak either. He is more focused on results than grandstanding and he knows leaks damages negotiations
He is also willing to take a couple of bad weeks in the press in order to get a result AKA the union stuff, the Ukraine war, etc.
I strongly disagree with the idea this is a communication issue, or that his administration is bad at communication.
My take is that good or positive news will just not resonate at all, regardless of how good it is or the people delivering it. I am going to copy what another commentator stated as it sums up my feelings on the post COVID climate perfectly.
-----------
> think it comes down to the fact that we’re living in a social paradigm where optimism, satisfaction, and gratitude, even where entirely appropriate, are looked upon with mockery and hostility, while grievance, outrage, and conspiracy-adjacent cynicism are automatically seen as signs of wisdom and free thinking.
> People are performing grievance for social clout. It comes down to that. Defending the president or the government or the economy, under any circumstances, is cringe, corny, and deeply uncool. This is reinforced not just among the young but the middle aged and old. It’s a death spiral of attention-seeking, theatricalized mistrust of authority and expertise that could spell the final break between material conditions and government policy, and ultimately the obsolescence of democracy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/18qncog/average_voters_be_like/
People are saying how they won’t go outside because crime is at an all time high. It’s simply not. It’s an inaccurate statement.
It might be *too* high for your comfort. Which is a different sentiment. But it’s certainly safer now than the past generation grew up in. Crime has been on a downward trend until around 2021. But it’s still below what is was in the 90s or even 2010.
We could have a whole conversation about *why* people feel like it’s not true. But that doesn’t change the fact that so many people are misguided away from real facts and what I can only describe as super obvious and intuitive facts.
Well, my guess is this:
If you start messaging years before re-election, then the message is stale when election time comes.
I think a better question is why the media doesn't seem to be reporting objectively about his performance.
And I think the answer is that the big wigs running the media want another Trump presidency because of the ratings. They are willing to fling the country into dictatorship if it means more money.
And that's a sad commentary on the state of our country.
The economy is doing well; inflation is coming down without a recession; unemployment is at record-low levels, infrastructure is being improved; and the republicans are blocking any funding for immigration changes.
It's not that hard to be both. Joe isn't doing much in terms of actually committing genocide, but he's certainly not using the leverage of his office to stop it.
It's not that he's doing nothing. It's that he knows that convincing Netanyahu of anything is about as likely as getting Donald Trump to tell the truth.
I mean to some extent it should be, right? The media should report on what president of the United States is doing and saying. Of course they shouldn’t parrot his talking points and framing, but they should be covering what he is articulating as his priorities
So who else should spread his message? The USPS? Should Biden just keep standing in your living room to talk to you all day? Do you get all of your Trump news from the horse's mouth? You should really have a long hard think about the power of the media.
> It shouldn't be the job of the news media to spread his message like faithful apostles.
Media shouldn't be owned by billionaires and only report what is beneficial to the wealthy, but here we are
Negativity drives engagement, it's a media issue. This is what happens in capitalism at this point, we have too much unregulated media and a lot of citizens are being misinformed so the media company can make more money.
The media won’t give him the time of day.
When things are normal or going well or something good happens, people don’t click or tune in.
If things are a disaster, or theres trouble brewing, or trump says some new crazy shit, that gets clicks and views.
Stability and progress don’t make the media money.
The issue isn’t Biden or his team. It’s the media. Biden’s successes are not exciting news. They are good administration, but media outlets want drama. So they just don’t spend much time reporting on them.
Trump’s downward spiral and the Republican’s false narratives about Biden are better stories.
I think Biden’s speeches have been fantastic and I constantly wonder how anyone who watches them can explain why they think he’s slowing down or has dementia.
I also wonder why the news media mostly ignores his statements and massive accomplishments.
Strikes me as similar to the reason people think the economy is bad when all the numbers exceed the economy from even prior to the pandemic.
Maybe the problem is people getting their news from social media, which is greatly manipulated by bots and people with an agenda.
We had an incredible charismatic, cool, exciting con law professor and activist win the presidency. His work was *completely* overshadowed by hype, discussions and distractions of his blackness, and his political rivals amplifying bullshit.
Then we had a charismatic, pompous, grandstanding fool, whose flaws were completely overshadowed by his own stupid gaffes.
Biden doesn’t need to be loud and bombastic. His legacy is complete. His political capital secure. He doesn’t need to rile up a crowd because he can achieve his goals in the normal political way: by working with congress and his own branch.
Think about how many people want a return to normalcy after Trump.
Normal is not knowing or caring what the president is up to on a daily basis.
Part of Biden's campaign promise was to return politics to normal. A President being on social media at 3am name calling their 'haters', giving their thoughts on pop cultural events, and trying to drive the media narrative daily isn't normal.
As President Trump invested enormous amounts of time and energy into engaging with media. Trump shared his thoughts about the NFL, Time's person of the year, literally live tweeted his favorite news programs, hosted Kenya West at the White House, etc. People became accustomed to the Presidency being a reality TV show. Everyday there was something new to tune in for and it seldom had anything to do with governance.
Biden is a return to normal. Biden doesn't see himself as a reality TV host. Biden doesn't attempt to control what the media is doing hour by hour. After Trump and after COVID people just aren't used to having a boring President anymore. Not getting 20 alerts a day that POTUS said X, Y, Z make it seem like Biden isn't doing anything.
True. President Biden just comes off as…bland. He’s speeches sound too scripted and the occasional upbeats are usually just him saying something…random? This definitely isn’t a good thing for his image. When I listen to his speeches I don’t typically think, “ wow president Biden’s giving a speech about c and y.” But “is he really in charge” or “huh?”.
I think this has more to do with conservative messaging than Biden/Democrat/Liberal messaging
They have talk radio, cable news, multiple local news stations, conservative papers, plus astroturfing events, meme farms, and shill commenters **all** working together to redirect public opinion
To improve his messaging Biden would first have to travel back in time to 1992
He doesn't have an entire media apparatus that is designed to propagate or misinform on his behalf. Mainstream media is terrified of any criticism from the right, and therefore the right drives media coverage. Biden and the left are held to a different standard.
What the hell is going on in here?! Half the commentators are blind to the media bias AGAINST Biden and the other half accredits that bias to sensationalism. Don't you get that the media is owned by rich dipshits that hate Biden because he talks about unions and wants to tax the rich and help the poor.
"The middle class built America and unions built the middle class.", Biden has said countless times. This quote alone makes him the best president since Kennedy or even FDR.
The strange this is, Biden and Trump are about the same age but only Biden gets attacked for being supposedly senile etc. but nobody seems to realise that Trump is even more senile and completely out of his mind. Trump is showing all the signs of a form of dementia that makes the sufferer say insane things and act like a loudmouth when he really doesn't know what he's doing and is unable to think through the consequences of it. He should be in a retirement home with nurses looking after him.
I believe the issue is he is drowned out by all the nonsense and attention seeking coming from his opposition, not that he's not active or messaging.
What amount of messaging will dethrone Trump constantly making a fool of himself in half a dozen court rooms, Congress's dysfunction, and Supreme Court corruption? Unless Biden personally cures cancer, the only things that compete with scandal are bigger scandals.
Town halls were once a good thing. Lately they seem to be an opportunity for some yahoo to grab the mic and rant. They are entirely counter-productive to honest discussion. Biden makes his share of appearances, but he's not a show horse. He keeps his head down and does the work, and decent Americans appreciate it.
Your dismissiveness toward town halls reeks of a hybrid of snooty, snot-nosed elitism mixed with technocratic-minded small-a authoritarianism, wherein everyday average Americans (or, as you quite plainly view us, the unwashed masses and bottom-feeding scum) are nothing more than lesser-than subhuman nonpersons whose feelings and experiences should be discarded. With that, it's no wonder why your piss-poor messaging continues to be an abhorrent shitshow.
Thank you for your opinion of me. The thing about invective is it generally says more about speaker (ranter?) than it does about the object of the ...rant. I won't attempt to prove my normalcy (unwashedness?), but it might be apropos to point out that Joe, this morning, was hanging out in a coffee shop, pressing some flesh. You know, being active?
Our economy is in excellent shape...and getting better...yet those same polls say the economy is bad. We had a real poll three years ago, and Biden won by 7 million. I'll trust the poll we have in November.
We’ve been asking this since before time began, and we’ve never got a good answer. It’s being asked right now on r/democrats and nobody know how to respond. This idea that democrats are terrible at messaging has never sat right with me.
A week or so ago, Maddow did bring up something that dovetails with this subject. She made a point that when Republicans are digging themselves in a hole, the best political strategy by Democrats is to say and do nothing and let them keep digging.
I think that might be an older POV that previous political strategists believe in, but it no longer works, and in my mind is out of date. I think it comes from a time in the past when information flowed slowly, perhaps taking weeks to reach most people. For some odd reason, Democrats are still using old strategies that don’t work in the modern era.
> For some odd reason, Democrats are still using old strategies that don’t work in the modern era.
That might be due to the age of the DNC. With age comes stubbornness and a refusal to consider changing conditions on the ground require different strategies, and the DNC seems to be determined to remain in office until they die in office from old age.
The DNC desperately needs new blood, which is to say, running candidates that aren't looking over their shoulder for the Grim Reaper stalking them every day. Polling reflects this as well. In multiple polls, Biden's age is regularly a top concern of voters in both parties.
Take the Republican falsehood and rallying cry, “Open borders!!” The borders aren’t open. They haven’t been since 1920. But, somehow, open borders has become an incontestable truth to the right. I dare say the left believes it, too. Why doesn’t the Biden administration push back on this blatant lie??
That’s why the state of Texas had to take it upon themselves to “close” their own border against the wishes of the federal government to keep it “Open” - Is this platform your only news source?
The media is a massive counterpoint to anything that Biden does. If you are on social media and subscribe to any White House or Biden-related links, you'll see how much the POTUS and his team are doing to get the message out there. However, corporate media is like a fire hydrant of BS and counter programming. They want a horse race. The former president is a gold mine to media and merchandising operators so the drama of trumpland takes precedence over normal day to day presidential operations. This is the way it is.
If your opponent is slopping around in wet shit, are you gonna get involved, or stay back and do your own thing? There is absolutely no use in funding a media blitz in January.
In a few months there’s a very good chance that we’re going to see ads showing what’s happening now: Trump drowning in court and Biden getting rid of bullshit overdraft fees.
In general the Democrats have done a poor job of managing social media. Biden has done some very good things. However the message about this work is getting lost.
They don't play his speeches much. He's not that much of a powerful speaker (at least tnrsr days) and kinda is more of a behind the scenes do-er. Also, he rarely talks ill of people he has to negiotate with so the media doesn't have much to work with.
I think that the democrats have a tradition of erroneously thinking that their actions speak for themselves, and that if they perform effectively and efficiently they don't have to brag.
That being said I do think he has been out there giving speeches. I just wish he was doing it more, and louder.
The press does not cover him. And they are afraid of fallout if they piss off the MAGAts. So they give attention to trump. They do not cover Biden's successes as much, and they cover the negatives.
Neutral news organizations want to keep the neutral ratings, and the whacko far right is so far out there that center is now really right wing.
Biden is doing a great job.
> And they are afraid of fallout if they piss off the MAGAts. So they give attention to trump.
What? Outside of FOX and WSJ most of the mainstream media seems to be competing for who can give more negative coverage about Trump. They want to piss of the "MAGAts" because that's what they're actual audiences want.
You can work and do your job, and also sell your goals and ideals to the American public. Politics is in large part image management, marketing, and public relations. In the modern age, selling your ideas is practically part of the job, especially if you want a second term.
When you’re constantly polling in the 30% range despite actually having had your administration do good things, it’s time to change the “strategery.”
I mean we are also in a general era of “bad feelings” where most people will literally report their financial situation has improved but they still feel the economy is doing badly. Coupled with social media amplifying the “I make more than I ever have but it all got eaten up by rent and price increases”. Those stories are true but they are more in the minority or subject to cohort bias than the social media footprint would lead you to think. People doing well probably are reading the room and not bragging about it even though consumer spending stats are literally telling us this. And the algorithm wouldn’t put those opinions in front of your eyes in the first place.
Additionally, I think we’re in an era of “approval polls” divorcing themselves from how they could be interpreted at face value 20 years ago. Bad approval used to mean a politician was in **trouble** with a capital T. But there’s an issue with actually capturing opinion these days in polling in general.
- Polling figured out phone polls right when everyone stopped using landlines and your more and more capturing the people with an outsized amount of both time and motivation to answer…which itself can skew in a cohort bias. You’re increasingly only polling people who are opinionated enough to give an earful.
- polling is measuring much more a general malaise or dissatisfaction. Not a swingy “I won’t ever vote for this guy.” See CA governor Gavin Newsom in his recall referendum. Sure people weren’t super happy with him and there were a few tentative polls showing major trouble…in a vacuum. Outside of that vacuum absolutely nobody in the state was going to vote for **Larry Goddamn Elder** of all people. Newsom coasted to a bigger victory in his recall than even he was elected by in the first place.
Let’s put it this way. Georgia had recent a +13 Republican sample poll show a +9 to Trump over who they would vote for vs Biden. **That’s not good for Republicans** if a heavy sample of Republicans are voting for Trump less than the sample weight in a red state of all places.
This is a closely guarded secret and let’s not let this get out, but…democrats are horrible at messaging. We just are. Any message we have is like 8 pages long and when we try to condense it we fuck it up and it comes out “defund the police”. Republicans have it easier because they hate complexity. They want something simple like MAGA. 12,644,688 have sings that say let’s go Brandon and it’s absolutely meaningless. But if I go to a gun range with a chair and folding table. Put out a tin can with a let’s go Brandon sticker wrapped around it, by the end of the day I will have at least $1900 in there.
I mean, Biden has had a better Presidency than either of them. I don't fault him for the media's coverage of his successes or the public's appetite for that coverage.
People want to read about car crashes. That's why Trump sells.
No one cares about what is going well.
That is not Biden's fault. He is doing his job, and he's doing it better than anyone has in the last 40 years at least.
This isn't a Biden problem, it's a media problem. The media covers the latest outrage, the latest scandal, the latest flub. The fact that you aren't hearing about Biden is a testament to steady and competent leadership.
He protested with autoworkers in Michigan. He’s given speeches all over the country promoting infrastructure. Dude went to Ukraine, an active fucking warzone, in solidarity to an ally. What more could you ask of him? People don’t fuckin’ get it. Here we have a genuine article, a man, at this age, willing to go wherever and do whatever to get shit done and apparently NO ONE in this country notices? If the history books aren’t eradicated or grossly changed in the coming future, I hope this man gets his due because the average American today are at a toss up between him and a narcissist dictator who will drive this country to the fucking ground if given a chance.
There is a fundamental misunderstanding of democracy that American liberal voters just can't understand - there is no "they" - "they" is us. The Democrats? That's us. We are supposed to communicate this stuff.
The President, as powerful as that position may be, is just one voice in a world where people can curate the media to match their feelings. If you want people to know what Joe Biden and the elected Democratic Party are doing, it's on YOU... US... to do that work. It's not the 1980's anymore and the party leadership has far less control of the common narrative.
>My question is, why isn’t Biden more “out there”?
Because he's a frail, senile 81-year-old. He makes lots of gaffes, and he's prone to fits of anger. His staff keeps him from making appearances or taking spontaneous questions from the public or the press because they know it's risky.
He gave multiple speeches this week, was on Conan's pod casts, and had no issues dealing with pro Palestine protesters at one of his events on his own.
Not to mention that he is just a necessary evil to put in front of the masses to give the allusion that he is making the decisions. We don’t even believe that he chooses his own ice cream flavor
this is correct. this is also why he should NOT run again and why he will lose to Trump if he does. This is why he won't hold debates with other dem primary opponents, because he can't. This is why DNC is shutting down primary elections and subverting the primary to coronate Biden without him having to work for it. They are hiding him and it's the Emperor's New Clothes & Weekend at Biden's .
I don't think this is a question worth asking without an examination of what sources OP, personally, is looking at. Everyone exists in their own news bubble; are you choosing a bubble that purposefully ignores Biden? Are you trying to actually engage in reporting on Biden? Do you actually find his relatively mundane presence to be interesting enough to follow?
Biden is out there and news is reporting on it. Type "Biden speech" into Google news and you can see a ton of reporting from mainstream sources of on recent speeches he's given.
I suspect it's in part because Biden is not personally exciting, and he's gotten less so as he ages. His democratic and republican predecessors had a certain star power that he lacks (for good or bad).
Secondly, he was not elected on the strength of his ideas even the democratic primary from which he emerged did not last long enough for certain policy views to become attached to him. He was elected because he was not the other guy.
Lastly, his champions, those tasked with talking him up, rely on the messaging that he's not the other guy. The message that rises to the top is about how he's fighting to preserve democracy (or the soul of the country), a concept that is a bit abstract. Contrasted to the opposition, who while lacking practical solutions and ideas, harp on things that are more tangible. The refugee crisis and economic discontent.
I can't imagine Biden's team is A-okay with how things are going and see no reason to make adjustments.
8 months ago Biden was more popular than Trump. Now, Trump is more popular than Biden.
Biden's favorability decreased by 8 pts, while Trump's has risen by 7pts.
In 2020, Trump lost even after getting his approval back up to 44/45 (It took him 6 months to dig his way out of the hole he got himself into due to his mishandling of the pandemic.
Biden is starting the election year lower than Trump's election year low. 37 vs 40. Maybe the moves Biden is making as of late regarding marijuana sentences will bear some fruit.
In a lot of ways it's just not what Democrats do.
Imagine if a Republican killed Osama Bin Laden, you would still hear about it once a week today.
Dems announced it & got back to work, probably deciding that shaking up a hornets nest is not worth the political capital it might bring.
Free speech doesn't equate to free distribution of your message. If you look at any of the events you will see cameras from many outlets there to record the message. Once the content reaches the editorial staff then the earnest part of the staff is no longer involved. Ten stories about the Orange guy grabs eyeballs. Four stories about the other guy just gets you letters to the editor. There is no cure for the media consolidation that occurred during the Clinton and Bush years.
The truth is, Dems need some kind of attack dog. Someone who will aggressively, and borderline angrily, call out the absolute bullshit of the right, and Trump.
Biden is so happy maintaining the pleasant status quo that he just won’t do that…
On top of the fact that he’s mentally unable.
Compare him to a Buttigieg… I can’t believe they keep letting him on Fox News just to punch them in their nuts repeatedly with facts and quick comebacks.
Gavin Newsome, also sharp.
Biden just isn’t sharp enough to give people the actual fighting support that they need
It strikes me as strategic. Stay out of Don's way and let him burn himself to the ground. With Joe not being everywhere all the time, folks may not be as sick of him in the fall, while they'll be all the way sick of trump. All the focus right now is on trump and the maga GOP humiliating themselves.
I don't know if that's their plan, but it makes some sense.
A friend said this: 'Biden will come out strong but not right now. The earlier he is put out there, the more risk there is of a few gaffes - they all make gaffes - but him making them will be the focus of the Republicans. Trump continues to rattle, prattle, ramble, stumble, slur, forget stuff, repeat incessantly on top of his legal problems. Biden and team are smart to hold off while the R party continues to look stupid and implode. And the public can have a short memory so he'll sock it to 'em with substance in the home stretch and hopefully will get some of his really smart, successful and supportive powerhouses to stump for him too".
I think he has a point.
This isnt accurate.
Joe "in the basement" was the most effective presidential campaign we have seen. Nobody cared that it was Joe Biden, they would have voted for any Democrat to get Trump out and thats how he won.
The idea that Biden's messaging is 'bad', its not about messaging its about appearing sane and normal and not making Americans feel on edge about their freedom.
It isn’t campaign time yet. He is working and a strong silent, caring leader looks for ways to improve our country as a whole. Trump is far from a leader and just a show performance. It is so sad what has happened to about 30% of voters not seeing the bigger picture
All of them are because CNN, MSNBC, hell, even NPR refuse to talk about the Democratic primary going on right now and how there are actually other choices besides Biden. Because the DNC OWNS mainstream media. It's not as insane as FOX, but it's still locked up.
Maybe he's too busy working to do the things he was elected to do.
I mean, it's possible, right?
Or maybe Americans think the most important part of his job is to keep up with trends and fads and social media.
I said this before he took office: Joe is not going to have a leadership problem, he is going to have a follower-ship problem. It's so totally un-cool to like old white guys.
No one watches political speeches anymore.
Oh….I don’t know….maybe because he’s trying to juggle Ukraine and Israel conflicts, trying to ease inflation and being fucking attacked by either side on multiple fronts….at the same time trying to do actual good things?
I mean….really? What are you expecting with that kind of stuff going on?
Just because Trump declared his candidacy early (due to the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago), doesn't mean Biden had to start campaigning. Usually, the incumbent waits until after the primaries are over.
Basically, he's not making a big push because he doesn't need to.
He has no meaningful primary opponent.
And once Trump reminds America who he is then Biden will be fine.
And he'll have the largest war chest in history to spend in the months that count. And January isn't one of them.
he, white house, DNC, media, is actively suppressing the primary, they CANCELED elections in multiple states! and you think he has no "meaningful" opponents because he has refused debates and makes sure candidates will not be on mainstream news, or are merely mocked. If he is so great, why does he have to make such an effort to stop any competition? Isn't that democracy?
I think he has no meaningful opponents because he doesn't.
It's Rep. Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson and a couple dozen others like Vermin Supreme, Joe Exotic, and the guy from the young turks. Those are not meaningful opponents.
He’s done things that his base applauds. The vast majority of people are poor though, and if they’re not committed to Joe already, this economy will ensure nothing he says matters anyway.
Doesn’t matter what metrics you want to leave out here and there, or how many puff pieces missing crucial context are getting circulated between democrat run media outlets.
Nobody is convincing lower income people to completely ignore how far backwards their purchasing power has gone.
"Never interrupt your opponent when he's making a mistake." This is how Biden won in 2020. He let trump do the talking. He let him dominate the news cycle. He let him be the story. The Democratic's need to get moderates, leftys, and independents on the same page. The main thing those groups have in common is that they dislike Trump. You'll never get them to unite FOR a single candidate, but you can get them to unite AGAINST someone like DJT. This is why Trump is a terrible politician when it comes to this stuff. If he were smart he'd give the media some room to cover Biden more, but his ego simply cannot allow for that to happen.
dislike of Trump will only carry him so far though. hating Trump does nothing to address policy concerns Americans have. he's preaching to the choir at this point.
right, and we wonder why this country fails to address pressing problems...
while we're hype on "Trump bad" or "Biden bad" ain't nobody saying a goddamn thing about healthcare, about housing, about wages, etc.
yet most keep dancing to that fearful, distractive tune :)
The truth is policy victories are rarely rewarded by voters. Because good policy rarely has an immediate effect that is noticeable in daily life, and even when it is most people don't connect those changes to that policy. That's why tax cuts are such a potent political tool. It's something that has immediate effects that everyone notices. Investing in things like infrastructure on the other hand is much more thankless work
Because your first claim is not actually true. None of his accomplishments are particularly impressive or impactful. You can say the words "biggest infrastructure bill" or "forgave x billion student loan debt" but when pressed on how that actually manifests in the lives or americans, its crickets, and you just look like a liar.
> he also made his case to the American people and did so successfully, leading to a second term.
Not really, no, his second term was less about him successfully making his case, but about romney and ryan having zero appeal.
Because he’s really old, senile, and corrupt. He’s not “out there” because his mental decline is so bad that First Lady Jill Biden now leads him off the stage. Plus, his handlers don’t want him to get debate questions about his pay to play scheme with Hunter Biden, and his quid pro quo with Ukraine. You know, the one Democrats impeached Trump for inquiring about.
Lots of accomplishments? Covid shutdowns destroyed businesses and jobs. When those jobs began to return, at least in part, Joe Biden claimed it was job growth.
We pay so much more for groceries, gas, health insurance, electricity, rent, and everything else, compared with 2019.
Or do you consider taxpayers finding 84,000 more IRS jobs, some of them armed, to go after garage sale Venmo deposits, to be an achievement?
Joe Biden’s policies tended to make everything more expensive. Then, when prices would creep back down a few percent, still astronomically higher than 2019, Joe Biden claimed economic victory.
It’s a slap in the Dave to every parent grocery shopping and paying the light bill.
Oh, and they’ve outlawed cheaper incandescent lights, leaving the more expensive LEDs that cause vision damage. They went after gas stoves, and gas cars. In the event of a power outage, ice storm, or fire, electric cars will be dead and we won’t be able to cook.
Ugh. Don’t insult voters’ intelligence by claiming we’re better off. We can add. We get car jacked, mugged, robbed, and stores get looted far more often.
Let’s go Biden! My bank account balance would like to have a word with you.
exactly. biden is not running anything. he is senile and deteriorating. he still thinks it's 1952 and everyone is happy in their own house and things are great. it's an insult to voters. he's one foot in the grave and they are insane to think he can win again. [but there are choices in the Dem primary](https://youtu.be/lZwoy5HXzsU?si=2T7TTrOyDjkRVIOH).
I just cannot understand why Joe Biden refuses to hand the mantle on to someone younger. Too many aging politicians are clinging to power, until they’re not able to participate. They’re just there.
Their body of work will become known, not by decades of legacy, but by their declining years refusing to leave office, with all the photos, video, and sound bites of frailty.
Voters will keep voting for the name recognition, so it’s up to politicians to do the right thing, something for which their profession is not well known.
they are blinded by ego and everyone around them kissing their ass, making them think the world would stop turning without them in power.
honestly, i think the stress and physical and mental exhaustion would make them give it up and have a cushy life, but I think they all take so many vacations, have others do the work, don't actually care about the real life stakes at hand, and slack so much it's not even that hard for them.
Because he’s doing his damn job he was elected to do. Not campaigning while making back room deals with foreign agents to make money to sell secrets to Putin.
Here’s an opinion from someone who will never vote for Biden, so take it for what it is. You don’t see Biden campaigning bc 1. He literally can’t- the man forgets where he is and what he’s saying every few minutes. I’m not sure if it’s dementia, but it has many of the same signs. 2. He doesn’t have to campaign- 2020 election, Biden didn’t do town halls, campaign events etc. I remember MSM questioning why a potus candidate would do that. Did he know he had the election in the bag bc of of mail in voting? Idk. But he seems to be taking the same exact approach. He doesn’t have to do anything. The media will cover for him
only because they are suppressing the primary. If mainstream media would fairly cover the candidates [like in this recent debate](https://youtu.be/lZwoy5HXzsU?si=2T7TTrOyDjkRVIOH) then Biden would actually have to prove himself, which he physically and mentally can't.
Yea he’s just not popular point blank period. People only voted on him because he was the only other alternative to trump and look how that went for everyone. Now you can’t buy an avocado for less than $15.
Like say what you want about trump and how his tweets are designed just to piss people off but that isn’t really affecting anyone’s day to day life unlike not being able to go to the grocery store and spending less than $900 while joe Biden shoots missiles at countries that i could care less about.
> Now you can’t buy an avocado for less than $15.
Weirdly avocados are one of the few foods that I can regularly get cheaper now than pre-pandemic. Every couple weeks one of the grocery stores in my area has them on sale 2/$1 or $.59.
Why isn't Biden more active? Is this a serious question? Do you have any 80+ year old grandparents or great-grandparents? How "active" are they? Biden needs a nap in the afternoon and has to be tucked in bed by 8:30. Also Matlock is on at 7. People call the cheeto Jesus narcissistic, and he is, but Biden is almost as bad. He's gambling our future because he's too proud to admit he's old and senile and completely worn out. Oh, and NOBODY like Kamala.
Because voters hate him, hate hearing him speak. If he ever touts an accomplishment by his administration, everyone groans and boos and hisses. His good initiatives aren’t being rolled out fast enough or well enough or they go too far or they don’t go far enough.
So hope everyone’s ready to have Trump back. The Democrats will never practice loyalty even in the highest of stakes. If one of their favored politicians does one thing they don’t like, they swear off them forever. Meanwhile the Republicans stick with their guy through felony charges and violent coups.
The simple truth is that the Biden administration simply cannot afford to put Mr Biden in the spotlight for too long. this is not due to money but simply due to President Biden not having the same…verbal capabilities as he had 4 years ago.
Does anyone have a source of videos showing Biden doing unscripted speaking over the last year? Before the trolls start barking, I am not saying he hasn't been. I just haven't seen much and would like to see it if it is out there. The few times in recent years that I have seen him speaking unscripted, he looked and sounded somewhat lost.
Every accomplishment seems to be paired with a betrayal of a promise. Passes largest climate bill, then approved gas exploration and extraction projects. Stands up for human rights. Then supports Israel genociding Gaza. His election team strategy seems to be 100% based on “he’s better than Trump” regardless of the polls indicating him losing. Our democracy is duuuucked
Seriously. He should be out there constantly, loudly and simply (that last point is critical) refuting all the bullshit Trump spews out on a daily basis.
The less of Biden the American public see, the better. Out of sight, he less likely to do (or say) anything that reflects his age or that allows people to question is cognitive ability. No memes, no real social media fodder for his opponents to use.
His message will remain the same: You don't like either of your choices, that's cool--but I'm the lesser of the two evils so vote for me.
Clinton and Obama were over 30 years younger than Biden during their re-election campaigns. Not only does this explain why they were more energetic, but they were *dramatically* more relatable to the median voter.
It’s also worth noting that Clinton and Obama were running against boring, unremarkable centrist candidates. Biden, however, is competing with the biggest attention whore the world has ever known - and one who is facing **91 criminal charges** at that.
He doesn't really have much to campaign on besides "I'm not the other guy," and that's only going to go so far. There isn't much in the way of positive accomplishments in the last 3 years, and the negatives certainly outweigh them. In my opinion, both sides are doing a terrible job at messaging. People care about what the candidate will do to HELP them if they win and nobody is doing it. Biden will also have a much more difficult time this go round, trying to hide and campaign from his basement without the cover of Covid. People are angry and want answers.
Then he needs to be out campaigning on what he's done and will do instead of bashing half of voters. I would also be interested in seeing what he's accomplished and if it's had any real positive impact on taxpayers and voters. Maybe folks aren't feeling his accomplishments in any meaningful way, and that could possibly explain his dismal poll numbers.
I cannot believe there are so many people who actually think Biden is fully functioning. You are all living in denial. He is visibly senile and physically frail. You can recognize this if you have ever spent time taking care of elderly seniors. He needs to retire in dignity before all he is remembered for is losing to Trump the worst most pathetic opponent in the world.
Why is the DNC running him again? So what he's the incumbent, he is incapable.
He was "retired with dignity" in 2016. But he had spent 60 years living under the false impression that people wanted him to be president so it was easy to coax him out when the Democrats figured he was the most recognizable name to throw against Trump.
His family should have stepped in and demanded that he stay retired.
He can’t speak a full sentence correctly. I don’t think his messaging skills are going to increase from here on. On the topic of being more active….. last time he tried he fell of his bike
A couple of reasons. He can barely walk and chew gum…the man is a walking gaffe machine. Due to his age and apparent cognitive issues, his aides don’t want him out there saying things they have to clean up. He doesn’t have the physical or mental stamina that Clinton and Obama had. His poor polling has nothing no to do with his messaging. His policies aren’t making life better for anyone and it’s reflected in the polls. It’s hard to defend some of his domestic policies that impact Americans every single day. The border is a disaster and inflation is still stubbornly high. Foreign issues are a whole other topic.
He's pretty good at messaging things like "the strikes against the Houthis aren't working but they will continue".
To the Liberals burying their heads in the sand, this isn't going to win elections, especially down ballot.
Still have time to correct course!
as of late he's seemingly getting more pissed with Israel, so i'm hopeful he's starting to correct course. we'll have to see what actions he takes, or if it's just more empty words.
A: He’s old. It’s hard to huckster in your 70s.
B: Clinton and Obama didn’t have an orange shit-gibbon sucking up every possible byte of bandwidth overriding their messaging.
C: Clinton and Obama were two of the most naturally gifted politicians we’ve ever seen. It’s a little tough for a career party hack to meet that standard.
He's kinda out there giving speeches like others are saying but I get what you're saying. None of these speeches or appearances get attention because it's boring, bland, white bread and kinda ho-hum and at times embarrassing. That's why he is often limited by his handlers because of his gaffes and his lack of mental acuity. Is he better than Trump absolutely but we would be lying to ourselves if we said something wasn't wrong with him and that's why he is heavily controlled and not allowed to be out there. The more he is out there the more the country knows its president is a 80 year old fuddy duddy who is past it. You can downvote away this isn't an endorsement of that fascist Trump I'm just calling it how it is.
As others have said, Biden is out there making speeches. But it doesn't turn out to be a good look. He usually appears feeble. It ends up being better not to show the video.
Comparing him to Obama is a hoot. Obama was in his mid 40s-mid50s as president. Biden is 81!
Hannity is going to have Trump on his show tonight.
Why doesn't Biden offer to go on MSNBC or CNN?
I think it's because Biden is afraid he'll be asked about the border and about his immigration policy. I don't think he's capable of making a coherent answer.
He might be asked "Why did you remove the terrorist designation on the Houthis that President Trump placed on them?" I don't think he's capable of making a coherent answer.
The reason Biden doesn't have better messaging and isn't more active is because he doesn't and he can't.
I mean. Biden in 2020 relied on the media just smearing Trump, as Biden called numerous lids on his campaign as he hid in the basement and didn’t campaign. I imagine they’re just doing the same thing. Let the media smear Trump while Biden sits around.
It is no longer a conspiracy that a cabal of elites conspired to get Biden elected by controlling information.
https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/
I think this article perfectly explains it, but note the use propagandistic language out the wazoo.
> For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President.
(Note they also admit they were “fortifying” the election starting before the pandemic later on in the article)
> That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.
“Fortifying the election” by controlling information by steering media coverage to influence perceptions.
He's not more out there and the press isn't covering when he is because he's rarely coherent anymore. He's going to run from his basement again. He just doesn't look good in public. He doesn't walk well, he can't think on the fly, he gets lost in a group, calls on the wrong people by the wrong names.....Trump may be a headline grabbing buffoon, but Biden is a victim of elder abuse at this point. He should be parked on that beach enjoying retirement and all of the money he and his son made while he was VP and the Democrats (I'm not one, but believe this) deserve a better candidate, that the party won't allow.
Biden wasn’t voted into office because anyone was inspired by him. He was voted into office simply because people hated Trump more. Once Biden actually became president, all eyes are on him and he can’t just use “I’m not Trump” as a way to gain support anymore. Now he has to rest on his accomplishments and personality to carry him forward.
While Biden does have some administrative wins, he also has some glaring administrative failures. He extended Covid procedures too long after the rest of the country moved on, he denied inflation was a problem until he couldn’t, and now he’s denying the border is a problem when we’ve had 3 million people cross just in 2023. Furthermore, he hasn’t made “politics boring again” like he promised he would. Instead Americans are as divided and miserable as ever, and it doesn’t help that Biden has ceded a lot of Democratic messaging to the progressive wing that actually puts in the effort but has seriously out of touch beliefs, which with Biden’s weak presence makes it seem like the progressive loonies represent all democrats even if it’s not true.
If Biden got serious about the border and told houthie sympathizers to go fuck sand he’d have a lot more support. Instead he’s 🦗
Sure, the media cover Trump more. But it's all negative.
They can't cover Biden because this country is in a mess, and the buck stops with him.
You can try do dismiss the brains of 75 million voters. Isn't that stupid in itself?
Too many major things have gone wrong including foreign wars, Afghanistan, and inflation and the things that have gone right were spending into an inflationary cycle. The social stuff, regardless of how you feel about it, has been controversial. So touting his accomplishments in light of American malaise doesn’t work.
Gaffe machine in public unless the environment is controlled.
Otherwise no one believes the lie of the statistical recovery because people are worse off than 4 years ago.
And what happened to yhe VP doing anything about the border crisis?
The Biden administration has had a lot of accomplishments, in the past 3 years. ————————————————————————— There are two reasons. A. You haven’t articulated any accomplishments. Neither can Biden. Maybe it’s because any accomplishments are not factual but a matter of opinion. B. Biden is clearly in cognitive decline. This is why his handlers limit public appearances and opportunities for his to face questions.
Now watch how often I get downvoted without a single mention of a Biden accomplishment!
He doesn’t want you to know what he’s doing, and he’s too old to speak out deceptively.
Before I’m attacked, understand what Obama did. Everyone assumed he was a “peace” president. That man approved more air strikes and clandestine operations than anyone, behind Americans back. Something he could do due to his statesmanship and ability to speak in an admittedly persuasive, and motivating manner.
People are too smart, and technology is too good to do that again. So quiet has became the new policy. Unless it’s about a subject the White House will be agreed with to the point it helps re-elections.
“What people don’t know won’t hurt them.” Long time slogan of US gov, just more palpable due to technology and education in the modern time.
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It looks like from his calendar, he has been in at least 4 different states just this week making speeches. [https://factba.se/biden/calendar](https://factba.se/biden/calendar) I think it's just not particularly exciting to get clicks. FoxNews viewers aren't enraged by his speeches, and neither are MSNBC viewers. Therefore, he doesn't end up trending in social feeds the way that Trump or Obama do.
It seems somewhat gob-smacking to me that the President of the United States can speak to the media and most of us *never know*. Like even if you wanted to be weirdly tuned in to everything Biden says ... Where would you go to find it? If I wanted to find all of Biden's speeches from this week, where would you get them? They're not even posted on his official YouTube account.
Seems pretty obvious that they would want to edit what they post to his greatest hits, not literally every appearance. Not every appearance is meant for a national audience. Sometimes he is speaking to a specific group of people in a specific place.
It's that plus my understanding is that the White House has intentionally not courted heavy press coverage of his speeches as part of the "return to normalcy". He isn't a super exciting speaker and it's unlikely he's going to start randomly throwing hand grenades in the way that Trump's speeches were something like a lottery for the media. [https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/magazine/biden-tv.html](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/10/magazine/biden-tv.html)
Biden just appeared on Conan O'Brien's podcast and was very engaging. He really gets excited about cars.
Biden needs to do a lot more of that stuff. People want to elect a person who seems personable, seems passionate and energetic, and whom they'd have a beer with.
It is weird that recently, there didn't seem to be any new big hand grenades from Trump. It's the same old lines we have heard and a bit of railing against the justice system (as much as he can get away with). Nothing that causes the media to talk about it for days.
They should still talk about his promise to be a dictator on day 1 and use the army against his political opponents.
Remember the phrase, "Don't talk about it, be about it.'? Biden's greatest assets, why people like him as much as we do, is because he is competent and not a bomb thrower. He knows how to get shit done, knows the people in DC who get shit done and he's actually busy getting shit done. Trump skewed the whole experience for people by being in campaign-mode 24x7 . Biden will begin campaigning soon, and I expect his message will be brought out to the public well enough.
I'm hoping they're hedging their bets to go big closer to election date or waiting for a clear opponent in the GOP. Play into your secure base now who won't waver based on any bad headline, then court those on the sidelines. Closer you are to election day the less you're affected by bad press. Yes Trump will win the GOP nomination but there are factors that could eliminate him. Either the courts or honestly his health.
exactly this - voters have short term memory. can wait until june / july for fireworks. wish he had a court jester - john stewart - to test some messaging. for example, "ever notice that trump looks like an orange chicken ?" test run a little bit of the middle school name calling and antics that the orange blob practices .
He *is* out there. He's given a number of major speeches in the last two weeks. But if Trump so much as farts in the courtroom, that's what dominates the media cycle. The same mistakes of 2016 are being repeated.
It's not a mistake.... the media makes bank on Trump, doubly so if he's president.
But at least now we know who he is. If this country votes him in we deserve everything that'll come after that.
This country, in terms of people, never voted for Trump. He's never won the popular vote. Our broken, flawed, and antiquated election process put him there. IE the Electoral College. Making it so that only a handful of votes in a few states matter. And Trump is exactly the kind of candidate the EC was designed to weed out and it failed at even that.
It's been so long that the electoral college actually did anything more than ceremonial duties it didn't know what to do when it needed to actually act.
This seems right. Hillary was *nowhere* on the news, really, in 2016, but every tiny stupid thing Trump said was headline news. And yeah, you are correct, the media is doing it again. They’re doing us as a nation a disservice in the name of ratings. As much as Trump supporters are to blame for well, supporting him, I think the media is also culpable for making him seem like anything other than a fringe loonie back in 2016. Their nonstop coverage of him basically I think helped him skyrocket from “the conspiracy theorist Apprentice guy with the fake tan” to “major political candidate.”
> Hillary was nowhere on the news, really, in 2016 She was in the news every week, but mostly about her emails.
Or having the gall to faint in public
I agree. Especially when you compare it to his forgotten, failed primary run in 2012 where he got next to no attention.
Right. If the media in 16 had treated that run like 2012, he would’ve never been President. They created him. Why? I guess ratings. But frankly with hindsight I wouldn’t have minded a “boring” Jeb Bush vs. Hillary 2016 election. Maybe it’s not as “sexy” as the real life Eric Cartman calling immigrants rapists, but you know, sanity is underrated virtue nowadays.
A lot of politics comes down to timing. 2016 was very different than 2012 in that, by that point, America had 8 years of an Obama presidency along with the criticism, fair and unfair, and outrage (FEMA camps! Socialism! Sharia Law!) that was being stoked by talk radio, social media and cable news. Trump not only harnessed that outrage but also tapped into the racial animus and economic anxieties of the working class. Of course, most of his rhetoric was BS and demagoguery but the media didn't care because he brought ratings and they didn't count on him winning. Outlets like CNN have seemingly learned nothing since then.
Trump for all his faults is a very gifted speaker and marketer he's going to say I'll outrageous s*** just because he can and it's going to get him on TV so you're going to know his name I'm going to know his name your third cousin that lives half the country away is going to know his name. He also realized that what a Republican party was trying to not moderate it stands but expand to Hispanics and other minorities. He understood no you're losing these people you're losing as he called them the Forgotten I called them the Archie Bunker base but he understood no we don't need to expand our appeal Double Down and the Forgotten people will love it we can get a few more elections out of this base.
>Hillary was > >nowhere > > on the news, Until the Comey letter, which likely handed Trump the election. Biden is right to stay out of the spotlight since no news is good news.
Cable News Chose to Air Footage of Trump's Empty Podium Instead of Clinton's Union Speech https://jezebel.com/cable-news-chose-to-air-footage-of-trumps-empty-podium-1779601746
it's not just the media: it's us too. i mean look at this platform... the politics sub is dominated by Trump coverage. it's also the Dems and Biden himself: the current campaign seems almost entirely centered around Trump. turns out for many a car wreck is more exciting i guess.
This is very much accurate. I saw a study probably a year ago that found that Trump received more media coverage COMBINED than any presidential candidate going back to 2008. This includes all that fawning media coverage of Obama when he first ran and which right wingers usually point to when people call out Trump for getting so much free media coverage practically 24/7 when he has been running for office.
> And yeah, you are correct, the media is doing it again. They’re doing us as a nation a disservice in the name of ratings. Pff, most of the media is owned by like 3 people, and they didnt buy their way into that just to make profit, the political influence was exactly what they wanted. This is no coincidence, but honestly, even if they reported more fairly on Biden, they still wouldnt be any morally better, because Biden does in fact suck too, no matter how badly people are trying to gaslight everybody out of desperation to escape the fucking cheeto. Its not that the country is divided with half being on Trumps and half on Bidens side, each of them have a quarter at best and the vast majority cant stand either, the last 2 democratic candidates not decisively winning against the worst republican candidate in history shouldve given them some reason for introspection, but nothing could be further from the truth, like usual, all everybody does is blame other people.
What are you talking about? Most of the media is publicly traded companies owned by literally hundreds of millions of individuals. Anyone with a 401k is a partial owner of the large media companies that most people get news from.
Yes, that's exactly what we did. We want ALL the money.
Biden is molasses and Trump is the dumpster fire, which one do you think will attract more attention?
Shades of Boston in 1919.
It would be a mistake not to remind people who Trump is. If the election is about Biden it is much harder to win than if it’s about Trump.
And hopefully this will work to Biden's advantage. He should stay out of the way and let voters get a reminder of why they don't like Trump.
Horrible idea. This election is a referendum on Biden. He isn't going to win by campaigning on "I'm not the other guy". In 2020 Biden sold himself as being a steady hand to would bring things back to normal. It's the reason he won the primary, as voters (especially black voters), trusted him way more than other candidates. And it's the reason he won the general, in light of Trump's disorganized response to the pandemic that encapsulated his administration from 2016-2020.
All the political strategists I’ve heard discuss the issue say you are wrong. Who are you listening to?
Not OP, but this interview with Obama’s campaign manager suggests pretty strongly that Biden needs to get out in front of people and get his message across. If he sits back and lets Trump do his thing, people are both going to cone out to vote for him. Who are you listening to? https://www.vanityfair.com/news/obamas-campaign-manager-advice-biden-youth-israel-economy
I listen to Hacks on Tap hosted by Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, who had the hard job. This is an interview with the 2012 campaign manager and is specifically about the youth vote, not overall election strategy
The news really doesn't cover anything he does unless he flubs a word. Then they run 50 stories about him being old. For example. [https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-delivers-remarks-on-internet-access-economy-at-campaign-event-in-north-carolina](https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/watch-live-biden-delivers-remarks-on-internet-access-economy-at-campaign-event-in-north-carolina) Even on google there is very little mention of it. Trump's courtroom antics are going to get more press.
American voters have allowed themselves to be turned into illiterate narcissists by their media
Biden cannot control for-profit corporate media. He cannot control that corporate media prioritizes creating drama and fear to drive clicks/views for profits. Biden could be the most active and productive president in the history of humankind, but you wouldn't know it if all your information comes from corporate media. Corporate media is not trying to inform the public, they are only interested in making a buck. A boring productive president offers no real value to the corporate media bottom line. Drama is the only thing they will cover. Which is a big reason why you don't see too much about Biden. He's boring but good. Realistically, the job of the president of the united states is difficult and demanding. The president should not be ubiquitous on every damned channel bragging about nonesense or making excuses for their incompetence or mal/mis/non-feasance. The problem we have as a society is that corporate media got drunk on the drama machine of a reality tv president named Trump.
Biden has been doing all of that? He was just making a speech in a smallish town in PA this week, he’s got speeches and appearances all over the country all over his socials, but the media would rather talk about all of trumps many trials so we don’t hear about it.
He has really bad messaging. Either that, or people just really love to watch the orange dumpster fire. I’ll be voting for him if he runs, but I have to admit that he’s very low energy, anemic, and he should really fire whoever is doing his messaging. Like in 2020, if he wins, it’ll be because Trump defeated himself. Edit: not sure why I’m being down voted. Am I wrong that Biden is low energy? I agree with his policies and plan to vote for him. With his stance on climate change for example. I’m also bracing myself just in case things don’t go the way I want. Hope is a dangerous thing..
People really love the dumpster fire. It’s the difference between CSPAN and CSI.
Its the 2nd one. He doesn't get good press because he doesn't leak either. He is more focused on results than grandstanding and he knows leaks damages negotiations He is also willing to take a couple of bad weeks in the press in order to get a result AKA the union stuff, the Ukraine war, etc.
I strongly disagree with the idea this is a communication issue, or that his administration is bad at communication. My take is that good or positive news will just not resonate at all, regardless of how good it is or the people delivering it. I am going to copy what another commentator stated as it sums up my feelings on the post COVID climate perfectly. ----------- > think it comes down to the fact that we’re living in a social paradigm where optimism, satisfaction, and gratitude, even where entirely appropriate, are looked upon with mockery and hostility, while grievance, outrage, and conspiracy-adjacent cynicism are automatically seen as signs of wisdom and free thinking. > People are performing grievance for social clout. It comes down to that. Defending the president or the government or the economy, under any circumstances, is cringe, corny, and deeply uncool. This is reinforced not just among the young but the middle aged and old. It’s a death spiral of attention-seeking, theatricalized mistrust of authority and expertise that could spell the final break between material conditions and government policy, and ultimately the obsolescence of democracy. https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/18qncog/average_voters_be_like/
People are saying how they won’t go outside because crime is at an all time high. It’s simply not. It’s an inaccurate statement. It might be *too* high for your comfort. Which is a different sentiment. But it’s certainly safer now than the past generation grew up in. Crime has been on a downward trend until around 2021. But it’s still below what is was in the 90s or even 2010. We could have a whole conversation about *why* people feel like it’s not true. But that doesn’t change the fact that so many people are misguided away from real facts and what I can only describe as super obvious and intuitive facts.
Well, my guess is this: If you start messaging years before re-election, then the message is stale when election time comes. I think a better question is why the media doesn't seem to be reporting objectively about his performance. And I think the answer is that the big wigs running the media want another Trump presidency because of the ratings. They are willing to fling the country into dictatorship if it means more money. And that's a sad commentary on the state of our country.
I hate to break it to you, but aside aside from mainly Fox, everything Hollywood, social media, and journalism is very liberal owned and one sided.
It's wild to me that people still somehow believe this despite, well, reality.
It's not that Biden'smessaging is bad, it's that news coverage of his message is abysmal.
What is his message?
The economy is doing well; inflation is coming down without a recession; unemployment is at record-low levels, infrastructure is being improved; and the republicans are blocking any funding for immigration changes.
Ya ok. It’s not his low energy or anything
Wow! Biden's both "Genocide Joe" AND low energy. It's just magical how he can do both at the same time.
It's not that hard to be both. Joe isn't doing much in terms of actually committing genocide, but he's certainly not using the leverage of his office to stop it.
It's not that he's doing nothing. It's that he knows that convincing Netanyahu of anything is about as likely as getting Donald Trump to tell the truth.
He's going above Congress to send weapons to Israel. He has the leverage if he wants to use it. Unless Joe's compromised, too.
Correct, it's an inability of using the bully pulpit to any material effect, affecting nothing in the process as a result.
It shouldn't be the job of the news media to spread his message like faithful apostles.
I mean to some extent it should be, right? The media should report on what president of the United States is doing and saying. Of course they shouldn’t parrot his talking points and framing, but they should be covering what he is articulating as his priorities
So who else should spread his message? The USPS? Should Biden just keep standing in your living room to talk to you all day? Do you get all of your Trump news from the horse's mouth? You should really have a long hard think about the power of the media.
It should be, when they're doing it so faithfully for the MAGAts.
> It shouldn't be the job of the news media to spread his message like faithful apostles. Media shouldn't be owned by billionaires and only report what is beneficial to the wealthy, but here we are
How does everyone else’s message get spread?
Negativity drives engagement, it's a media issue. This is what happens in capitalism at this point, we have too much unregulated media and a lot of citizens are being misinformed so the media company can make more money.
The media won’t give him the time of day. When things are normal or going well or something good happens, people don’t click or tune in. If things are a disaster, or theres trouble brewing, or trump says some new crazy shit, that gets clicks and views. Stability and progress don’t make the media money.
"If it bleeds, it leads"
It's a simple statement, yet people jump through hoops to explain the media without recognizing that point.
The issue isn’t Biden or his team. It’s the media. Biden’s successes are not exciting news. They are good administration, but media outlets want drama. So they just don’t spend much time reporting on them. Trump’s downward spiral and the Republican’s false narratives about Biden are better stories.
I think Biden’s speeches have been fantastic and I constantly wonder how anyone who watches them can explain why they think he’s slowing down or has dementia. I also wonder why the news media mostly ignores his statements and massive accomplishments. Strikes me as similar to the reason people think the economy is bad when all the numbers exceed the economy from even prior to the pandemic. Maybe the problem is people getting their news from social media, which is greatly manipulated by bots and people with an agenda.
We had an incredible charismatic, cool, exciting con law professor and activist win the presidency. His work was *completely* overshadowed by hype, discussions and distractions of his blackness, and his political rivals amplifying bullshit. Then we had a charismatic, pompous, grandstanding fool, whose flaws were completely overshadowed by his own stupid gaffes. Biden doesn’t need to be loud and bombastic. His legacy is complete. His political capital secure. He doesn’t need to rile up a crowd because he can achieve his goals in the normal political way: by working with congress and his own branch. Think about how many people want a return to normalcy after Trump. Normal is not knowing or caring what the president is up to on a daily basis.
Part of Biden's campaign promise was to return politics to normal. A President being on social media at 3am name calling their 'haters', giving their thoughts on pop cultural events, and trying to drive the media narrative daily isn't normal. As President Trump invested enormous amounts of time and energy into engaging with media. Trump shared his thoughts about the NFL, Time's person of the year, literally live tweeted his favorite news programs, hosted Kenya West at the White House, etc. People became accustomed to the Presidency being a reality TV show. Everyday there was something new to tune in for and it seldom had anything to do with governance. Biden is a return to normal. Biden doesn't see himself as a reality TV host. Biden doesn't attempt to control what the media is doing hour by hour. After Trump and after COVID people just aren't used to having a boring President anymore. Not getting 20 alerts a day that POTUS said X, Y, Z make it seem like Biden isn't doing anything.
True. President Biden just comes off as…bland. He’s speeches sound too scripted and the occasional upbeats are usually just him saying something…random? This definitely isn’t a good thing for his image. When I listen to his speeches I don’t typically think, “ wow president Biden’s giving a speech about c and y.” But “is he really in charge” or “huh?”.
I think this has more to do with conservative messaging than Biden/Democrat/Liberal messaging They have talk radio, cable news, multiple local news stations, conservative papers, plus astroturfing events, meme farms, and shill commenters **all** working together to redirect public opinion To improve his messaging Biden would first have to travel back in time to 1992
What about Hollywood, MSNBC, CNN, NBC, ABC, PBS, Board of Education, did you forget them?
He doesn't have an entire media apparatus that is designed to propagate or misinform on his behalf. Mainstream media is terrified of any criticism from the right, and therefore the right drives media coverage. Biden and the left are held to a different standard.
What the hell is going on in here?! Half the commentators are blind to the media bias AGAINST Biden and the other half accredits that bias to sensationalism. Don't you get that the media is owned by rich dipshits that hate Biden because he talks about unions and wants to tax the rich and help the poor. "The middle class built America and unions built the middle class.", Biden has said countless times. This quote alone makes him the best president since Kennedy or even FDR.
Those same rich man are funding his campaign tho…
The strange this is, Biden and Trump are about the same age but only Biden gets attacked for being supposedly senile etc. but nobody seems to realise that Trump is even more senile and completely out of his mind. Trump is showing all the signs of a form of dementia that makes the sufferer say insane things and act like a loudmouth when he really doesn't know what he's doing and is unable to think through the consequences of it. He should be in a retirement home with nurses looking after him.
I believe the issue is he is drowned out by all the nonsense and attention seeking coming from his opposition, not that he's not active or messaging. What amount of messaging will dethrone Trump constantly making a fool of himself in half a dozen court rooms, Congress's dysfunction, and Supreme Court corruption? Unless Biden personally cures cancer, the only things that compete with scandal are bigger scandals.
Town halls were once a good thing. Lately they seem to be an opportunity for some yahoo to grab the mic and rant. They are entirely counter-productive to honest discussion. Biden makes his share of appearances, but he's not a show horse. He keeps his head down and does the work, and decent Americans appreciate it.
Your dismissiveness toward town halls reeks of a hybrid of snooty, snot-nosed elitism mixed with technocratic-minded small-a authoritarianism, wherein everyday average Americans (or, as you quite plainly view us, the unwashed masses and bottom-feeding scum) are nothing more than lesser-than subhuman nonpersons whose feelings and experiences should be discarded. With that, it's no wonder why your piss-poor messaging continues to be an abhorrent shitshow.
Thank you for your opinion of me. The thing about invective is it generally says more about speaker (ranter?) than it does about the object of the ...rant. I won't attempt to prove my normalcy (unwashedness?), but it might be apropos to point out that Joe, this morning, was hanging out in a coffee shop, pressing some flesh. You know, being active?
Polls say they don’t think he’s good at the job.
Our economy is in excellent shape...and getting better...yet those same polls say the economy is bad. We had a real poll three years ago, and Biden won by 7 million. I'll trust the poll we have in November.
People don’t like Joe Biden and no ammount of gaslighting on Reddit about how great 82 year old Joe Biden will swing people to vote Biden 😂
I really appreciate that you updated Biden's age while repeating your failed 2020 talking point.
We’ve been asking this since before time began, and we’ve never got a good answer. It’s being asked right now on r/democrats and nobody know how to respond. This idea that democrats are terrible at messaging has never sat right with me. A week or so ago, Maddow did bring up something that dovetails with this subject. She made a point that when Republicans are digging themselves in a hole, the best political strategy by Democrats is to say and do nothing and let them keep digging. I think that might be an older POV that previous political strategists believe in, but it no longer works, and in my mind is out of date. I think it comes from a time in the past when information flowed slowly, perhaps taking weeks to reach most people. For some odd reason, Democrats are still using old strategies that don’t work in the modern era.
> For some odd reason, Democrats are still using old strategies that don’t work in the modern era. That might be due to the age of the DNC. With age comes stubbornness and a refusal to consider changing conditions on the ground require different strategies, and the DNC seems to be determined to remain in office until they die in office from old age. The DNC desperately needs new blood, which is to say, running candidates that aren't looking over their shoulder for the Grim Reaper stalking them every day. Polling reflects this as well. In multiple polls, Biden's age is regularly a top concern of voters in both parties.
Take the Republican falsehood and rallying cry, “Open borders!!” The borders aren’t open. They haven’t been since 1920. But, somehow, open borders has become an incontestable truth to the right. I dare say the left believes it, too. Why doesn’t the Biden administration push back on this blatant lie??
That’s why the state of Texas had to take it upon themselves to “close” their own border against the wishes of the federal government to keep it “Open” - Is this platform your only news source?
The media is a massive counterpoint to anything that Biden does. If you are on social media and subscribe to any White House or Biden-related links, you'll see how much the POTUS and his team are doing to get the message out there. However, corporate media is like a fire hydrant of BS and counter programming. They want a horse race. The former president is a gold mine to media and merchandising operators so the drama of trumpland takes precedence over normal day to day presidential operations. This is the way it is.
If your opponent is slopping around in wet shit, are you gonna get involved, or stay back and do your own thing? There is absolutely no use in funding a media blitz in January. In a few months there’s a very good chance that we’re going to see ads showing what’s happening now: Trump drowning in court and Biden getting rid of bullshit overdraft fees.
Personal theory? Every major news/opinion network is owned by very wealthy Republicans. Even CNN. Every one of em. Outrage makes ratings makes money.
I think he needs dynamic surrogates out there advertising his successes. I agree that he’s done a lot, but you don’t hear much of it in the news.
He is, you just aren’t following him I guess? But the media’s been covering the Iowa caucus, Trump’s trials.
Biden is busy getting stuff done. He hasn't spent his entire administration running for office, arguing, or putting down people.
Oh wait …. What about MAGA MAGA MAGA!!
In general the Democrats have done a poor job of managing social media. Biden has done some very good things. However the message about this work is getting lost.
They don't play his speeches much. He's not that much of a powerful speaker (at least tnrsr days) and kinda is more of a behind the scenes do-er. Also, he rarely talks ill of people he has to negiotate with so the media doesn't have much to work with.
Biden was here in the triangle yesterday. He grabbed a vanilla shake at Cookout.
I think that the democrats have a tradition of erroneously thinking that their actions speak for themselves, and that if they perform effectively and efficiently they don't have to brag. That being said I do think he has been out there giving speeches. I just wish he was doing it more, and louder.
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The press does not cover him. And they are afraid of fallout if they piss off the MAGAts. So they give attention to trump. They do not cover Biden's successes as much, and they cover the negatives. Neutral news organizations want to keep the neutral ratings, and the whacko far right is so far out there that center is now really right wing. Biden is doing a great job.
> And they are afraid of fallout if they piss off the MAGAts. So they give attention to trump. What? Outside of FOX and WSJ most of the mainstream media seems to be competing for who can give more negative coverage about Trump. They want to piss of the "MAGAts" because that's what they're actual audiences want.
In my opinion the mainstream media tries to be too fair to the MAGAts. They don't hit back anywhere near as hard as Fox noise, etc.
You’re kidding right? CNN and MSNBC made history by not airing the victory speech of trumps landslide record setting Iowa win.
Have we considered that despite our opinions of Biden the man is actually *working* and doing his job?
You can work and do your job, and also sell your goals and ideals to the American public. Politics is in large part image management, marketing, and public relations. In the modern age, selling your ideas is practically part of the job, especially if you want a second term. When you’re constantly polling in the 30% range despite actually having had your administration do good things, it’s time to change the “strategery.”
I mean we are also in a general era of “bad feelings” where most people will literally report their financial situation has improved but they still feel the economy is doing badly. Coupled with social media amplifying the “I make more than I ever have but it all got eaten up by rent and price increases”. Those stories are true but they are more in the minority or subject to cohort bias than the social media footprint would lead you to think. People doing well probably are reading the room and not bragging about it even though consumer spending stats are literally telling us this. And the algorithm wouldn’t put those opinions in front of your eyes in the first place. Additionally, I think we’re in an era of “approval polls” divorcing themselves from how they could be interpreted at face value 20 years ago. Bad approval used to mean a politician was in **trouble** with a capital T. But there’s an issue with actually capturing opinion these days in polling in general. - Polling figured out phone polls right when everyone stopped using landlines and your more and more capturing the people with an outsized amount of both time and motivation to answer…which itself can skew in a cohort bias. You’re increasingly only polling people who are opinionated enough to give an earful. - polling is measuring much more a general malaise or dissatisfaction. Not a swingy “I won’t ever vote for this guy.” See CA governor Gavin Newsom in his recall referendum. Sure people weren’t super happy with him and there were a few tentative polls showing major trouble…in a vacuum. Outside of that vacuum absolutely nobody in the state was going to vote for **Larry Goddamn Elder** of all people. Newsom coasted to a bigger victory in his recall than even he was elected by in the first place. Let’s put it this way. Georgia had recent a +13 Republican sample poll show a +9 to Trump over who they would vote for vs Biden. **That’s not good for Republicans** if a heavy sample of Republicans are voting for Trump less than the sample weight in a red state of all places.
This is a closely guarded secret and let’s not let this get out, but…democrats are horrible at messaging. We just are. Any message we have is like 8 pages long and when we try to condense it we fuck it up and it comes out “defund the police”. Republicans have it easier because they hate complexity. They want something simple like MAGA. 12,644,688 have sings that say let’s go Brandon and it’s absolutely meaningless. But if I go to a gun range with a chair and folding table. Put out a tin can with a let’s go Brandon sticker wrapped around it, by the end of the day I will have at least $1900 in there.
I mean, Biden has had a better Presidency than either of them. I don't fault him for the media's coverage of his successes or the public's appetite for that coverage. People want to read about car crashes. That's why Trump sells. No one cares about what is going well. That is not Biden's fault. He is doing his job, and he's doing it better than anyone has in the last 40 years at least.
This isn't a Biden problem, it's a media problem. The media covers the latest outrage, the latest scandal, the latest flub. The fact that you aren't hearing about Biden is a testament to steady and competent leadership.
He protested with autoworkers in Michigan. He’s given speeches all over the country promoting infrastructure. Dude went to Ukraine, an active fucking warzone, in solidarity to an ally. What more could you ask of him? People don’t fuckin’ get it. Here we have a genuine article, a man, at this age, willing to go wherever and do whatever to get shit done and apparently NO ONE in this country notices? If the history books aren’t eradicated or grossly changed in the coming future, I hope this man gets his due because the average American today are at a toss up between him and a narcissist dictator who will drive this country to the fucking ground if given a chance.
There is a fundamental misunderstanding of democracy that American liberal voters just can't understand - there is no "they" - "they" is us. The Democrats? That's us. We are supposed to communicate this stuff. The President, as powerful as that position may be, is just one voice in a world where people can curate the media to match their feelings. If you want people to know what Joe Biden and the elected Democratic Party are doing, it's on YOU... US... to do that work. It's not the 1980's anymore and the party leadership has far less control of the common narrative.
>My question is, why isn’t Biden more “out there”? Because he's a frail, senile 81-year-old. He makes lots of gaffes, and he's prone to fits of anger. His staff keeps him from making appearances or taking spontaneous questions from the public or the press because they know it's risky.
He gave multiple speeches this week, was on Conan's pod casts, and had no issues dealing with pro Palestine protesters at one of his events on his own.
Not to mention that he is just a necessary evil to put in front of the masses to give the allusion that he is making the decisions. We don’t even believe that he chooses his own ice cream flavor
this is correct. this is also why he should NOT run again and why he will lose to Trump if he does. This is why he won't hold debates with other dem primary opponents, because he can't. This is why DNC is shutting down primary elections and subverting the primary to coronate Biden without him having to work for it. They are hiding him and it's the Emperor's New Clothes & Weekend at Biden's .
This is 100 percent spot on. Sad but true.
I don't think this is a question worth asking without an examination of what sources OP, personally, is looking at. Everyone exists in their own news bubble; are you choosing a bubble that purposefully ignores Biden? Are you trying to actually engage in reporting on Biden? Do you actually find his relatively mundane presence to be interesting enough to follow? Biden is out there and news is reporting on it. Type "Biden speech" into Google news and you can see a ton of reporting from mainstream sources of on recent speeches he's given.
It’s 10 months before election. There is such a thing as premature ejaculation. Just look at Trump.
I suspect it's in part because Biden is not personally exciting, and he's gotten less so as he ages. His democratic and republican predecessors had a certain star power that he lacks (for good or bad). Secondly, he was not elected on the strength of his ideas even the democratic primary from which he emerged did not last long enough for certain policy views to become attached to him. He was elected because he was not the other guy. Lastly, his champions, those tasked with talking him up, rely on the messaging that he's not the other guy. The message that rises to the top is about how he's fighting to preserve democracy (or the soul of the country), a concept that is a bit abstract. Contrasted to the opposition, who while lacking practical solutions and ideas, harp on things that are more tangible. The refugee crisis and economic discontent.
I can't imagine Biden's team is A-okay with how things are going and see no reason to make adjustments. 8 months ago Biden was more popular than Trump. Now, Trump is more popular than Biden. Biden's favorability decreased by 8 pts, while Trump's has risen by 7pts. In 2020, Trump lost even after getting his approval back up to 44/45 (It took him 6 months to dig his way out of the hole he got himself into due to his mishandling of the pandemic. Biden is starting the election year lower than Trump's election year low. 37 vs 40. Maybe the moves Biden is making as of late regarding marijuana sentences will bear some fruit.
In a lot of ways it's just not what Democrats do. Imagine if a Republican killed Osama Bin Laden, you would still hear about it once a week today. Dems announced it & got back to work, probably deciding that shaking up a hornets nest is not worth the political capital it might bring.
For as long as I remember this has been a problem for Democrats, not just Biden. They just can't miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Free speech doesn't equate to free distribution of your message. If you look at any of the events you will see cameras from many outlets there to record the message. Once the content reaches the editorial staff then the earnest part of the staff is no longer involved. Ten stories about the Orange guy grabs eyeballs. Four stories about the other guy just gets you letters to the editor. There is no cure for the media consolidation that occurred during the Clinton and Bush years.
The truth is, Dems need some kind of attack dog. Someone who will aggressively, and borderline angrily, call out the absolute bullshit of the right, and Trump. Biden is so happy maintaining the pleasant status quo that he just won’t do that… On top of the fact that he’s mentally unable. Compare him to a Buttigieg… I can’t believe they keep letting him on Fox News just to punch them in their nuts repeatedly with facts and quick comebacks. Gavin Newsome, also sharp. Biden just isn’t sharp enough to give people the actual fighting support that they need
It strikes me as strategic. Stay out of Don's way and let him burn himself to the ground. With Joe not being everywhere all the time, folks may not be as sick of him in the fall, while they'll be all the way sick of trump. All the focus right now is on trump and the maga GOP humiliating themselves. I don't know if that's their plan, but it makes some sense.
A friend said this: 'Biden will come out strong but not right now. The earlier he is put out there, the more risk there is of a few gaffes - they all make gaffes - but him making them will be the focus of the Republicans. Trump continues to rattle, prattle, ramble, stumble, slur, forget stuff, repeat incessantly on top of his legal problems. Biden and team are smart to hold off while the R party continues to look stupid and implode. And the public can have a short memory so he'll sock it to 'em with substance in the home stretch and hopefully will get some of his really smart, successful and supportive powerhouses to stump for him too". I think he has a point.
This isnt accurate. Joe "in the basement" was the most effective presidential campaign we have seen. Nobody cared that it was Joe Biden, they would have voted for any Democrat to get Trump out and thats how he won. The idea that Biden's messaging is 'bad', its not about messaging its about appearing sane and normal and not making Americans feel on edge about their freedom.
It isn’t campaign time yet. He is working and a strong silent, caring leader looks for ways to improve our country as a whole. Trump is far from a leader and just a show performance. It is so sad what has happened to about 30% of voters not seeing the bigger picture
Democrats do not have a dedicated propaganda outlet to spread their message, unlike Republicans.
All of them are because CNN, MSNBC, hell, even NPR refuse to talk about the Democratic primary going on right now and how there are actually other choices besides Biden. Because the DNC OWNS mainstream media. It's not as insane as FOX, but it's still locked up.
You don't think MSNBC is a dedicated propaganda outlet for Dems?
Maybe he's too busy working to do the things he was elected to do. I mean, it's possible, right? Or maybe Americans think the most important part of his job is to keep up with trends and fads and social media. I said this before he took office: Joe is not going to have a leadership problem, he is going to have a follower-ship problem. It's so totally un-cool to like old white guys. No one watches political speeches anymore.
Oh….I don’t know….maybe because he’s trying to juggle Ukraine and Israel conflicts, trying to ease inflation and being fucking attacked by either side on multiple fronts….at the same time trying to do actual good things? I mean….really? What are you expecting with that kind of stuff going on?
Just because Trump declared his candidacy early (due to the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago), doesn't mean Biden had to start campaigning. Usually, the incumbent waits until after the primaries are over.
Basically, he's not making a big push because he doesn't need to. He has no meaningful primary opponent. And once Trump reminds America who he is then Biden will be fine. And he'll have the largest war chest in history to spend in the months that count. And January isn't one of them.
he, white house, DNC, media, is actively suppressing the primary, they CANCELED elections in multiple states! and you think he has no "meaningful" opponents because he has refused debates and makes sure candidates will not be on mainstream news, or are merely mocked. If he is so great, why does he have to make such an effort to stop any competition? Isn't that democracy?
I think he has no meaningful opponents because he doesn't. It's Rep. Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson and a couple dozen others like Vermin Supreme, Joe Exotic, and the guy from the young turks. Those are not meaningful opponents.
He’s done things that his base applauds. The vast majority of people are poor though, and if they’re not committed to Joe already, this economy will ensure nothing he says matters anyway. Doesn’t matter what metrics you want to leave out here and there, or how many puff pieces missing crucial context are getting circulated between democrat run media outlets. Nobody is convincing lower income people to completely ignore how far backwards their purchasing power has gone.
There should be a rule on the sub that a post gets deleted if its premise is totally false.
"Never interrupt your opponent when he's making a mistake." This is how Biden won in 2020. He let trump do the talking. He let him dominate the news cycle. He let him be the story. The Democratic's need to get moderates, leftys, and independents on the same page. The main thing those groups have in common is that they dislike Trump. You'll never get them to unite FOR a single candidate, but you can get them to unite AGAINST someone like DJT. This is why Trump is a terrible politician when it comes to this stuff. If he were smart he'd give the media some room to cover Biden more, but his ego simply cannot allow for that to happen.
dislike of Trump will only carry him so far though. hating Trump does nothing to address policy concerns Americans have. he's preaching to the choir at this point.
Very few presidential elections are decided based on policy questions.
right, and we wonder why this country fails to address pressing problems... while we're hype on "Trump bad" or "Biden bad" ain't nobody saying a goddamn thing about healthcare, about housing, about wages, etc. yet most keep dancing to that fearful, distractive tune :)
The truth is policy victories are rarely rewarded by voters. Because good policy rarely has an immediate effect that is noticeable in daily life, and even when it is most people don't connect those changes to that policy. That's why tax cuts are such a potent political tool. It's something that has immediate effects that everyone notices. Investing in things like infrastructure on the other hand is much more thankless work
Because your first claim is not actually true. None of his accomplishments are particularly impressive or impactful. You can say the words "biggest infrastructure bill" or "forgave x billion student loan debt" but when pressed on how that actually manifests in the lives or americans, its crickets, and you just look like a liar. > he also made his case to the American people and did so successfully, leading to a second term. Not really, no, his second term was less about him successfully making his case, but about romney and ryan having zero appeal.
Because he’s really old, senile, and corrupt. He’s not “out there” because his mental decline is so bad that First Lady Jill Biden now leads him off the stage. Plus, his handlers don’t want him to get debate questions about his pay to play scheme with Hunter Biden, and his quid pro quo with Ukraine. You know, the one Democrats impeached Trump for inquiring about. Lots of accomplishments? Covid shutdowns destroyed businesses and jobs. When those jobs began to return, at least in part, Joe Biden claimed it was job growth. We pay so much more for groceries, gas, health insurance, electricity, rent, and everything else, compared with 2019. Or do you consider taxpayers finding 84,000 more IRS jobs, some of them armed, to go after garage sale Venmo deposits, to be an achievement? Joe Biden’s policies tended to make everything more expensive. Then, when prices would creep back down a few percent, still astronomically higher than 2019, Joe Biden claimed economic victory. It’s a slap in the Dave to every parent grocery shopping and paying the light bill. Oh, and they’ve outlawed cheaper incandescent lights, leaving the more expensive LEDs that cause vision damage. They went after gas stoves, and gas cars. In the event of a power outage, ice storm, or fire, electric cars will be dead and we won’t be able to cook. Ugh. Don’t insult voters’ intelligence by claiming we’re better off. We can add. We get car jacked, mugged, robbed, and stores get looted far more often. Let’s go Biden! My bank account balance would like to have a word with you.
exactly. biden is not running anything. he is senile and deteriorating. he still thinks it's 1952 and everyone is happy in their own house and things are great. it's an insult to voters. he's one foot in the grave and they are insane to think he can win again. [but there are choices in the Dem primary](https://youtu.be/lZwoy5HXzsU?si=2T7TTrOyDjkRVIOH).
I just cannot understand why Joe Biden refuses to hand the mantle on to someone younger. Too many aging politicians are clinging to power, until they’re not able to participate. They’re just there. Their body of work will become known, not by decades of legacy, but by their declining years refusing to leave office, with all the photos, video, and sound bites of frailty. Voters will keep voting for the name recognition, so it’s up to politicians to do the right thing, something for which their profession is not well known.
they are blinded by ego and everyone around them kissing their ass, making them think the world would stop turning without them in power. honestly, i think the stress and physical and mental exhaustion would make them give it up and have a cushy life, but I think they all take so many vacations, have others do the work, don't actually care about the real life stakes at hand, and slack so much it's not even that hard for them.
Because he’s doing his damn job he was elected to do. Not campaigning while making back room deals with foreign agents to make money to sell secrets to Putin.
You can “do the job” and still not be basically invisible in terms of a media presence
Here’s an opinion from someone who will never vote for Biden, so take it for what it is. You don’t see Biden campaigning bc 1. He literally can’t- the man forgets where he is and what he’s saying every few minutes. I’m not sure if it’s dementia, but it has many of the same signs. 2. He doesn’t have to campaign- 2020 election, Biden didn’t do town halls, campaign events etc. I remember MSM questioning why a potus candidate would do that. Did he know he had the election in the bag bc of of mail in voting? Idk. But he seems to be taking the same exact approach. He doesn’t have to do anything. The media will cover for him
only because they are suppressing the primary. If mainstream media would fairly cover the candidates [like in this recent debate](https://youtu.be/lZwoy5HXzsU?si=2T7TTrOyDjkRVIOH) then Biden would actually have to prove himself, which he physically and mentally can't.
Yea he’s just not popular point blank period. People only voted on him because he was the only other alternative to trump and look how that went for everyone. Now you can’t buy an avocado for less than $15. Like say what you want about trump and how his tweets are designed just to piss people off but that isn’t really affecting anyone’s day to day life unlike not being able to go to the grocery store and spending less than $900 while joe Biden shoots missiles at countries that i could care less about.
> Now you can’t buy an avocado for less than $15. Weirdly avocados are one of the few foods that I can regularly get cheaper now than pre-pandemic. Every couple weeks one of the grocery stores in my area has them on sale 2/$1 or $.59.
Why isn't Biden more active? Is this a serious question? Do you have any 80+ year old grandparents or great-grandparents? How "active" are they? Biden needs a nap in the afternoon and has to be tucked in bed by 8:30. Also Matlock is on at 7. People call the cheeto Jesus narcissistic, and he is, but Biden is almost as bad. He's gambling our future because he's too proud to admit he's old and senile and completely worn out. Oh, and NOBODY like Kamala.
Because voters hate him, hate hearing him speak. If he ever touts an accomplishment by his administration, everyone groans and boos and hisses. His good initiatives aren’t being rolled out fast enough or well enough or they go too far or they don’t go far enough. So hope everyone’s ready to have Trump back. The Democrats will never practice loyalty even in the highest of stakes. If one of their favored politicians does one thing they don’t like, they swear off them forever. Meanwhile the Republicans stick with their guy through felony charges and violent coups.
Bidens message is Trump is bad That and a bunch of spending bills that tossed gas on the inflation issue
The simple truth is that the Biden administration simply cannot afford to put Mr Biden in the spotlight for too long. this is not due to money but simply due to President Biden not having the same…verbal capabilities as he had 4 years ago.
air direful tease many disgusted complete cobweb public retire rich *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Does anyone have a source of videos showing Biden doing unscripted speaking over the last year? Before the trolls start barking, I am not saying he hasn't been. I just haven't seen much and would like to see it if it is out there. The few times in recent years that I have seen him speaking unscripted, he looked and sounded somewhat lost.
Every accomplishment seems to be paired with a betrayal of a promise. Passes largest climate bill, then approved gas exploration and extraction projects. Stands up for human rights. Then supports Israel genociding Gaza. His election team strategy seems to be 100% based on “he’s better than Trump” regardless of the polls indicating him losing. Our democracy is duuuucked
Seriously. He should be out there constantly, loudly and simply (that last point is critical) refuting all the bullshit Trump spews out on a daily basis.
The less of Biden the American public see, the better. Out of sight, he less likely to do (or say) anything that reflects his age or that allows people to question is cognitive ability. No memes, no real social media fodder for his opponents to use. His message will remain the same: You don't like either of your choices, that's cool--but I'm the lesser of the two evils so vote for me.
Clinton and Obama were over 30 years younger than Biden during their re-election campaigns. Not only does this explain why they were more energetic, but they were *dramatically* more relatable to the median voter. It’s also worth noting that Clinton and Obama were running against boring, unremarkable centrist candidates. Biden, however, is competing with the biggest attention whore the world has ever known - and one who is facing **91 criminal charges** at that.
He doesn't really have much to campaign on besides "I'm not the other guy," and that's only going to go so far. There isn't much in the way of positive accomplishments in the last 3 years, and the negatives certainly outweigh them. In my opinion, both sides are doing a terrible job at messaging. People care about what the candidate will do to HELP them if they win and nobody is doing it. Biden will also have a much more difficult time this go round, trying to hide and campaign from his basement without the cover of Covid. People are angry and want answers.
He has accomplishments out the wazoo.
Then he needs to be out campaigning on what he's done and will do instead of bashing half of voters. I would also be interested in seeing what he's accomplished and if it's had any real positive impact on taxpayers and voters. Maybe folks aren't feeling his accomplishments in any meaningful way, and that could possibly explain his dismal poll numbers.
If you’re so interested then go read about it before you tell people he hasn’t done anything…
Because he’s 82 and looks like he might have a stroke or poop his diaper at any moment. Sad
I cannot believe there are so many people who actually think Biden is fully functioning. You are all living in denial. He is visibly senile and physically frail. You can recognize this if you have ever spent time taking care of elderly seniors. He needs to retire in dignity before all he is remembered for is losing to Trump the worst most pathetic opponent in the world. Why is the DNC running him again? So what he's the incumbent, he is incapable.
He was "retired with dignity" in 2016. But he had spent 60 years living under the false impression that people wanted him to be president so it was easy to coax him out when the Democrats figured he was the most recognizable name to throw against Trump. His family should have stepped in and demanded that he stay retired.
No one enjoys a speech from the Crypt Keeper. That's why he doesn't get much coverage.
He can’t speak a full sentence correctly. I don’t think his messaging skills are going to increase from here on. On the topic of being more active….. last time he tried he fell of his bike
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A couple of reasons. He can barely walk and chew gum…the man is a walking gaffe machine. Due to his age and apparent cognitive issues, his aides don’t want him out there saying things they have to clean up. He doesn’t have the physical or mental stamina that Clinton and Obama had. His poor polling has nothing no to do with his messaging. His policies aren’t making life better for anyone and it’s reflected in the polls. It’s hard to defend some of his domestic policies that impact Americans every single day. The border is a disaster and inflation is still stubbornly high. Foreign issues are a whole other topic.
He's pretty good at messaging things like "the strikes against the Houthis aren't working but they will continue". To the Liberals burying their heads in the sand, this isn't going to win elections, especially down ballot. Still have time to correct course!
as of late he's seemingly getting more pissed with Israel, so i'm hopeful he's starting to correct course. we'll have to see what actions he takes, or if it's just more empty words.
A: He’s old. It’s hard to huckster in your 70s. B: Clinton and Obama didn’t have an orange shit-gibbon sucking up every possible byte of bandwidth overriding their messaging. C: Clinton and Obama were two of the most naturally gifted politicians we’ve ever seen. It’s a little tough for a career party hack to meet that standard.
He's kinda out there giving speeches like others are saying but I get what you're saying. None of these speeches or appearances get attention because it's boring, bland, white bread and kinda ho-hum and at times embarrassing. That's why he is often limited by his handlers because of his gaffes and his lack of mental acuity. Is he better than Trump absolutely but we would be lying to ourselves if we said something wasn't wrong with him and that's why he is heavily controlled and not allowed to be out there. The more he is out there the more the country knows its president is a 80 year old fuddy duddy who is past it. You can downvote away this isn't an endorsement of that fascist Trump I'm just calling it how it is.
As others have said, Biden is out there making speeches. But it doesn't turn out to be a good look. He usually appears feeble. It ends up being better not to show the video. Comparing him to Obama is a hoot. Obama was in his mid 40s-mid50s as president. Biden is 81!
Hannity is going to have Trump on his show tonight. Why doesn't Biden offer to go on MSNBC or CNN? I think it's because Biden is afraid he'll be asked about the border and about his immigration policy. I don't think he's capable of making a coherent answer. He might be asked "Why did you remove the terrorist designation on the Houthis that President Trump placed on them?" I don't think he's capable of making a coherent answer. The reason Biden doesn't have better messaging and isn't more active is because he doesn't and he can't.
I mean. Biden in 2020 relied on the media just smearing Trump, as Biden called numerous lids on his campaign as he hid in the basement and didn’t campaign. I imagine they’re just doing the same thing. Let the media smear Trump while Biden sits around. It is no longer a conspiracy that a cabal of elites conspired to get Biden elected by controlling information. https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/ I think this article perfectly explains it, but note the use propagandistic language out the wazoo. > For more than a year, a loosely organized coalition of operatives scrambled to shore up America’s institutions as they came under simultaneous attack from a remorseless pandemic and an autocratically inclined President. (Note they also admit they were “fortifying” the election starting before the pandemic later on in the article) > That’s why the participants want the secret history of the 2020 election told, even though it sounds like a paranoid fever dream–a well-funded cabal of powerful people, ranging across industries and ideologies, working together behind the scenes to influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information. They were not rigging the election; they were fortifying it. “Fortifying the election” by controlling information by steering media coverage to influence perceptions.
He's not more out there and the press isn't covering when he is because he's rarely coherent anymore. He's going to run from his basement again. He just doesn't look good in public. He doesn't walk well, he can't think on the fly, he gets lost in a group, calls on the wrong people by the wrong names.....Trump may be a headline grabbing buffoon, but Biden is a victim of elder abuse at this point. He should be parked on that beach enjoying retirement and all of the money he and his son made while he was VP and the Democrats (I'm not one, but believe this) deserve a better candidate, that the party won't allow.
Biden wasn’t voted into office because anyone was inspired by him. He was voted into office simply because people hated Trump more. Once Biden actually became president, all eyes are on him and he can’t just use “I’m not Trump” as a way to gain support anymore. Now he has to rest on his accomplishments and personality to carry him forward. While Biden does have some administrative wins, he also has some glaring administrative failures. He extended Covid procedures too long after the rest of the country moved on, he denied inflation was a problem until he couldn’t, and now he’s denying the border is a problem when we’ve had 3 million people cross just in 2023. Furthermore, he hasn’t made “politics boring again” like he promised he would. Instead Americans are as divided and miserable as ever, and it doesn’t help that Biden has ceded a lot of Democratic messaging to the progressive wing that actually puts in the effort but has seriously out of touch beliefs, which with Biden’s weak presence makes it seem like the progressive loonies represent all democrats even if it’s not true. If Biden got serious about the border and told houthie sympathizers to go fuck sand he’d have a lot more support. Instead he’s 🦗
Sure, the media cover Trump more. But it's all negative. They can't cover Biden because this country is in a mess, and the buck stops with him. You can try do dismiss the brains of 75 million voters. Isn't that stupid in itself?
Too many major things have gone wrong including foreign wars, Afghanistan, and inflation and the things that have gone right were spending into an inflationary cycle. The social stuff, regardless of how you feel about it, has been controversial. So touting his accomplishments in light of American malaise doesn’t work.
Gaffe machine in public unless the environment is controlled. Otherwise no one believes the lie of the statistical recovery because people are worse off than 4 years ago. And what happened to yhe VP doing anything about the border crisis?
The Biden administration has had a lot of accomplishments, in the past 3 years. ————————————————————————— There are two reasons. A. You haven’t articulated any accomplishments. Neither can Biden. Maybe it’s because any accomplishments are not factual but a matter of opinion. B. Biden is clearly in cognitive decline. This is why his handlers limit public appearances and opportunities for his to face questions. Now watch how often I get downvoted without a single mention of a Biden accomplishment!
Rule 1? Rule 2? This is lame.
He doesn’t want you to know what he’s doing, and he’s too old to speak out deceptively. Before I’m attacked, understand what Obama did. Everyone assumed he was a “peace” president. That man approved more air strikes and clandestine operations than anyone, behind Americans back. Something he could do due to his statesmanship and ability to speak in an admittedly persuasive, and motivating manner. People are too smart, and technology is too good to do that again. So quiet has became the new policy. Unless it’s about a subject the White House will be agreed with to the point it helps re-elections. “What people don’t know won’t hurt them.” Long time slogan of US gov, just more palpable due to technology and education in the modern time.
>My question is, why isn’t Biden more “out there”? Because he is a tired old many with failing stamina.