Why Trump's attempt to tag Biden as a tool of the radical left isn't working

[JoeOtterbein]

Politico

In short: Voters don't see him that way, according to a new POLITICO/Morning Consult poll.

By HOLLY OTTERBEIN and ALEX ISENSTADT

07/01/2020 06:00 AM EDT

Updated: 07/01/2020 08:05 AM EDT

President Donald Trump’s campaign has been trying to paint Joe Biden as a stooge for the far left. A new poll shows why it’s not working.

Only 17 percent of registered voters perceive the former vice president as more liberal than most Democrats, according to a POLITICO/Morning Consult survey, while nearly two-thirds see him as in line with or more conservative than the party at large. The survey also found that a larger proportion of the electorate views Biden as moderate (23 percent) than sees Trump that way (9 percent).

The findings underscore the difficulty of turning Biden, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, into an unacceptable choice for independent and suburban voters by tying him to the most progressive figures in the Democratic Party. After eight years as vice president and dozens more as a split-the-difference senator, Biden has a well-formed reputation among many voters.

Trump is still trying. At his first rally since the coronavirus outbreak began, the president cast Biden as a “helpless puppet of the radical left” and misleadingly claimed Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was spearheading Biden’s environmental policy.

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[empedocles]

1. Biden, the pragmatic choice.

[SoonerPride]

2. Biden, the sane choice.

Biden, the only choice!

[Laelth]

3. Those of us on the ACTUAL left don't see Biden that way.

We voted for Bernie or for Elizabeth.

That said, Joe is plenty left-enough for me under these circumstances, and I am behind him 100%. This election isn’t about policy. It’s about the soul of the republic. It’s about decency and honesty vs. corruption, treason, malignant narcissism, and lies. The choice couldn’t be more clear.

Go Joe!



-Laelth

[Music Man]

5. Well said.

Joe Biden is the decent man. When arguments, angst, and discord are at a high, he is the man for the moment.

Biden may also be at an ideal position to incorporate the changes we've been wanting. Obama and Biden are essentially the same policy-speaking, but Obama positioned himself as a progressive. Biden positions himself as a centrist. He's not a fundamental threat to Republicans that way. Far-left extremist has also NEVER been the charge of Biden, so it can't stick.

I also hope the Obama years also taught us some lessons about how craven Mitch McConnell's Republican party will be in holding up legislation.

I say all this as a hypothesis that a Biden administration might be more fruitful for progressives than an Obama administration. First, though, is undoing so much damage that Trump has done. One wonders how great Democratic presidents could be if they weren't constantly cleaning up Republican disasters.

[Laelth]

8. Biden has proven himself to be flexible.

I am glad that we had two people to his left running in the primaries (Bernie and Elizabeth) so that Joe could position himself as a moderate.

Truth be told, Joe is a politician in the purest sense. He reads the room and follows his people. If we can get a liberal House and a liberal Senate to put liberal legislation on his desk, he will sign it, and that’s all I need him to do (beyond restoring sanity to our nation, reassuring our allies, telling the American people the truth, building a cabinet that is designed to make government WORK, and appointing sane Supreme Court justices—all of which I am convinced Biden WILL DO).

Needless to say, I am looking forward to his administration.



-Laelth

[HotTeaBag]

9. Completely agree.

Biden was not my first (or second or third) choice, but now he's my only choice and I think he's open enough to at least give some left-leaning policies a try - up to and including being willing to bring some much more left-leaning people into his cabinet and listen to the voices calling for fundamental change.

I still think he's about as establishment as one can get and will be most comfortable being an extension of Obama, but I trust that he'll move us in the right direction.

[Caliman73]

11. Perfectly said.

Biden is a decent human being. He worked with President Obama well enough that there was rarely ever friction. He has been in government long enough that he is a known commodity. He is liked by friends and opponents. While I would have preferred a more progressive candidate, Biden does take away a big tool in the Trump tool kit, the call of "Radical Left". Trump just looks stupid when he tries to paint Biden as any kind of leftist. Biden is a moderate.

Biden, like most Democratic Party memebers, believes that government should take an active role in helping to improve the lives of citizens and residents of the country. Like most Democrats, he believes that government is the only entity strong enough to reign in the excesses of wealth. The differences in the Party are in matters of degree.

There is a fundamental difference between Joe Biden and Trump in both policy and character. Every time each of them speak, that difference is on FULL display.

Joe can move the ball back to the middle of the field, then, when the damage that Trump has inflicted is on its way to being corrected, we can talk about where we want to keep going as a nation.

[Music Man]

4. Trump has a very small number of tools in his toolbag.

Deep state, Crooked Hillary, fake news.

His 2016 campaign was about being a loud, obnoxious challenger. Unfortunately, he now has a governing record to run on, and it's... uh... not good.

Joe Biden is fundamentally known, though, and Trump cannot create a new narrative about him. Sleepy Joe? Donald Trump isn't exactly a coherent spring chicken. Radical leftist? If Joe Biden received any criticism this primary, it's for being too centrist and having friendly relationships with Republicans.

I think if you were to create a word cloud of what people say about Biden, you'd get something like: Old, experienced, moderate, character, family, Obama, gaffe-prone, Amtrak, good. For better or for worse, voters know who Joe Biden is. Also, Joe Biden knows who Joe Biden is. The best Donald Trump can do is invent something.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

7. Should Trump drop out and Pence be the GOP nominee...

Pence will not be able to define Joe Biden either.

Mike Pence's legislative history is public knowledge. The Religious Freedom Law he signed while Governor of Indiana that caused such a firestorm of protest because it did not defend Religious Freedom, but was a blatant excuse for businesses to discriminate against the LGBTQ community. The calls for boycotts caught Pence off guard.

[Wellstone ruled]

12. You just nailed a pattern

that the Trump Camp is using. This is pure Rove all the way. Radical left,Hillary this Hillary that,birther party will come,and anything Doomsday.

Right now it is Reporters giving Joe questions in advance,that is the word for a couple days and then it will be a personal attack on Joe for the weekend.

[Caliman73]

13. I agree, with this exception.

Hillary Clinton had two things going against her that Biden doesn't.

1. Being a woman - Sexism and Racism in this country, have a long long history and run neck and neck for the title of "most pernicious social/political force in the US". Hillary was super qualified and would have made an excellent President. Enough people didn't like her just because she was a woman that with all the other cheating and tricks, Trump was able to steal the electoral college. I do not think that any other woman whether Warren, Harris, or anyone else, would have been able to win in 2016 either. Sexism would have been a huge factor.

2. 30+ years of right wing lies - While Biden has faced his share of criticism, as you said, we are seeing the limits of Trump's campaign strategy. He cannot demonize Joe the way Conservatives demonized Hillary Clinton. Fox News and right wing radio went after Hillary as much as they went after Bill Clinton since the 90's, and while Bill got somewhat of a reprieve after he left the White House, Hillary kept getting hammered as she went on to Secretary of State and Senator from New York. None of what the right wing said was accurate or had any truth to it, but it did a number on the framing of who she was.

Biden, as I said up thread, is a decent person. He is also White and a man. He is the average Democratic Party politician. Attacking him is basically attacking all of the policy planks that are in the Democratic Party, which are typically popular with most voters. Put Bernie's face on it and you have an angry radical lefty. Put a woman's face on it and you have, a woman. While I would vote for almost ANY woman (I had to exclude Tulsi, sorry) in the Democratic Party over ANY Republican ever, there are still a lot of people who can't see themselves pulling the lever for a woman as President.

[Laelth]

14. +1 n/t

-Laelth

[sop]

6. Voters aren't buying Trump's "tool of the radical left" attacks because political labels have to be

at least somewhat plausible to be believable. He always pulls this shit riight out of his ass expecting his credulous followers to blindly accept it, but Trump's gone to that well once too often.

Trump would probably understand the immortal words of George W. Bush: There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.” Or something like that.

[The Magistrate]

10. This, Sir, Is All That Is Useful In Attacks On Mr. Biden From The Left

They go a fair way towards countering the cheap thug's line that Mr. Biden is a radical leftist.

That Mr. Biden's being seen as not a radical leftist increases his popularity is something the 'lefter than thou' seem unable to wrap their minds around.

[Gothmog]

16. Joe Biden was careful to stay away from too far left policies and that is helping him

[Gothmog]

15. Biden is the best candidate to face trump