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In these first months of the election campaign in the United States, American President Joe Biden has remained rather isolated, has reduced his public commitments and avoided interviews and press conferences. The idea was to protect him from possible mistakes and gaffes and from the consequent discussions about his advanced age. That approach didn’t work: age – Biden is 81 – has become the central theme of the re-election campaign and according to surveys most voters, including Democrats, consider him too old to hold the job.
A few days ago the electoral committee therefore radically changed its approach: Biden showed up more often, responded to journalists, participated in television programmes, met voters in person, recorded videos per TikTok and other social networks, alone or by meeting well-known influencers.
In fact, those responsible for the electoral campaign decided to revive an old communication strategy that had had some success in the 2020 presidential elections, defined by the slogan “Let Biden be Biden”. The president is known for his warm personality, and when he can be himself, say the collaborators who have accompanied him for a good part of his career, charisma and communication skills overcome gaffes and errors. Many political analysts they had been suggesting for some time a similar turning point, which however brings with it many risks.
Four years later, it is not a given that this strategy still works, nor that Biden has retained the same ability to make people forget his weaknesses. Biden is 81 years old and physically frailer than during the 2020 election campaign, although his aides maintain that he has not lost his clarity. It will be necessary to evaluate whether such an elderly candidate will be able to physically withstand a more constant commitment in the electoral campaign while at the same time limiting the risks of making gaffes and errors, as has happened in recent weeks. And in the meantime be president of the United States.
Joe Biden with aviator sunglasses (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
During his presidency, Biden did fewer interviews and attended fewer press conferences than any of his predecessors since Ronald Reagan, who ended his second term at 78, then the oldest age ever for a president. He has mostly avoided commitments in the evening, when he is most tired, and has twice refused a classic appointment for presidents, the interview before the football Super Bowl, the most watched television event in the country.
But in recent days, with the change in communication strategy, Biden’s participation in events and television programs have multiplied.
Joe Biden with two hairdressers in their salon (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
The president attended the late show of Seth Meyers, a comedy and interview program that airs after midnight (but is taped in the afternoon), appeared more often in direct contact with voters, often wearing baseball caps and aviator sunglasses, accessories that he had used in the 2020 election campaign. He traveled more often away from Washington and organized private meetings with citizens and influencers who are very active on social media: it is a planned strategy to reach a younger audience that is less easily intercepted through traditional channels. It is too early to assess whether it will have an effect, especially in sectors of the electorate considered fundamental such as young non-white people, but some posts have reached considerable numbers, at least in terms of circulation.
This more spontaneous approach can lead to embarrassing situations at any time: during participation in the late show Biden was taken to an ice cream shop and began responding to journalists on important topics such as the crisis in the Gaza Strip with an ice cream cone in hand. Still with the ice cream, he spoke out about the imminent achievement of a ceasefire, a statement which later proved to be risky. In the following days he committed some other gaffes, for example speaking from the Oval Office about aid “parachuted into Ukraine” (instead of Gaza). However, his electoral committee has also begun to air commercials with the errors of his rival Trump, who during rallies is often confused, makes slips of the tongue and utters incoherent sentences.
The Biden administration denies that the change in communication strategy is dictated by the electorate’s growing concerns about the president’s age. He defines the greater public visibility as a normal consequence of the fact that the elections are approaching. His collaborators say they are convinced that age will cease to be a central issue once the elections officially become a choice between Biden and Trump (also because his rival is only four years younger).
But the decision to “let Biden be Biden” would also have been a personal choice of the president himself and his family, convinced that it can still produce positive results. Plus, how he said to New York Times John Morgan, a campaign financier, said it wouldn’t be a good message politically if “someone could think that Joe Biden isn’t doing what Joe Biden would like to do, every single day.”
A recent visit to the Mexican border in Texas (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
The president’s next public appointment will be Thursday, and it will be as important as it is institutional. It is the “State of the Union” speech, with which the president annually addresses Congress and the country to take stock of his activities and the conditions of the nation. It will be the last of his mandate, and Biden will want to use it to remind voters of the positive results obtained in various areas, especially economic ones. But he will also be closely observed to check for any errors or hesitations.
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