Long Time Advisor to Bill Clinton saying Biden campaign is doing it all wrong

[OSR stands with Israel]

https://web.archive.org/web/20240512062759/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/12/opinion/joe-biden-swing-voters.html

President Biden appears behind in all the swing states and his campaign appears all-too-focused on firming up his political base on the left with his new shift on Israel, a $7 trillion budget, massive tax increases and failing to connect on the basic issues of inflation, immigration and energy. By pitching too much to the base, he is leaving behind the centrist swing voters who shift between parties from election to election and, I believe, will be the key factor deciding the 2024 race.

I’ve spent decades looking at the behavior of swing voters and how candidates appeal to them, including for Bill Clinton’s re-election campaign in 1996. If Mr. Biden wants to serve another four years, he has to stop being dragged to the left and chart a different course closer to the center that appeals to those voters who favor bipartisan compromises to our core issues, fiscal discipline and a strong America.

Unfortunately, Mr. Biden is not reaching out to moderate voters with policy ideas or a strong campaign message. He is not showing clear evidence of bringing in large numbers of swing voters in the battleground states at this point. Those swing voters look for fiscal restraint without tax increases, climate policies that still give people a choice of cars and fuels and immigration policies that are compassionate to those who are here but close the borders.

Instead of pivoting to the center when talking to 32 million people tuned in to his State of the Union address, Mr. Biden doubled down on his base strategy with hits like class warfare attacks on the rich and big corporations, big tax increases, student loan giveaways and further expansions of social programs despite a deficit of more than $1.1 trillion. The results that quickly dissipated.

Mr. Biden’s campaign has fundamentally miscalculated on Israel. Those Haley voters are strong defense voters who would back ally Israel unreservedly and I believe want to see a president who would be putting maximum pressure on Hamas to release hostages. By pandering to base voters with no choice, Biden is pushing the Haley vote to Trump and so his first instincts on Israel were both good policy and good politics.

At this point, Mr. Biden also needs to give a serious speech on the issues of crime and immigration and what they are doing to our inner cities. He has to combine policies of fair policing and treatment of DACA recipients with tougher crime and immigration policies

[Progressive Pessimist]

Is Biden too left, or not left enough? I feel bad for the guy running in this current, nuance-free time.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Is Biden too left, or not left enough? I feel bad for the guy running in this current, nuance-free time.

I mean ideologues will always think their party's president is not left wing/right wing enough regardless so what matters is what the average voter thinks and not these activists. 

[Progressive Pessimist]

Is Biden too left, or not left enough? I feel bad for the guy running in this current, nuance-free time.

I mean ideologues will always think their party's president is not left wing/right wing enough regardless so what matters is what the average voter thinks and not these activists. 

Yeah, but then the activists do disruptive things that make Biden look bad, especially if they end up turning the convention into 1968 redux. It's another one of many lose-lose situations for Biden.

[OSR stands with Israel]

Is Biden too left, or not left enough? I feel bad for the guy running in this current, nuance-free time.

I mean ideologues will always think their party's president is not left wing/right wing enough regardless so what matters is what the average voter thinks and not these activists. 

Yeah, but then the activists do disruptive things that make Biden look bad, especially if they end up turning the convention into 1968 redux. It's another one of many lose-lose situations for Biden.

Oh he points out for this to work , Biden has to firmly push back against the base .

[Minnesota Mike]

LOL at trying to pass off Mark Penn as giving good faith advice to Democrats.

[BlueSwan]

LOL at trying to pass off Mark Penn as giving good faith advice to Democrats.

This.

Also, I don't believe there are many pursuadable swing voters at all. Biden needs to keep together the very broad coalition that came out for him and was motivated mostly by the idea of kicking Trump out of office. His sole hope right now is basically that people WAKE THE  UP and realize that Trump CANNOT become president again. Forget policies, they don't really matter very much. You are never gonna pursuade people that magical great things will happen if Biden gets 4 more years. This needs to be all out negative campaigning against Trump.

[Progressive Pessimist]

LOL at trying to pass off Mark Penn as giving good faith advice to Democrats.

This.

Also, I don't believe there are many pursuadable swing voters at all. Biden needs to keep together the very broad coalition that came out for him and was motivated mostly by the idea of kicking Trump out of office. His sole hope right now is basically that people WAKE THE  UP and realize that Trump CANNOT become president again. Forget policies, they don't really matter very much. You are never gonna pursuade people that magical great things will happen if Biden gets 4 more years. This needs to be all out negative campaigning against Trump.

This I agree with you on. This is going to be a turnout election, and the energy that goes into hating Trump is far more potent affirmative enthusiasm for Biden. His campaign just needs to make sure that rage against Trump involves voting for him instead of third parties and by turning out those voters he needs. Thankfully, the Democratic coalition has become better at turning out in elections.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

LOL at trying to pass off Mark Penn as giving good faith advice to Democrats.

While we're on the topic of out of touch Clinton advisors from 1996, will Dick Morris rate Arkansas safe Biden or does only Obama get that honor?

[jojoju1998]

Biden has/will always struggle with the " base ". Remember, people only voted for him full force because of Covid in 2020.

[AlterEgo]

LOL at trying to pass off Mark Penn as giving good faith advice to Democrats.

This.

Also, I don't believe there are many pursuadable swing voters at all. Biden needs to keep together the very broad coalition that came out for him and was motivated mostly by the idea of kicking Trump out of office. His sole hope right now is basically that people WAKE THE  UP and realize that Trump CANNOT become president again. Forget policies, they don't really matter very much. You are never gonna pursuade people that magical great things will happen if Biden gets 4 more years. This needs to be all out negative campaigning against Trump.

Right. I mean,

A) It's like, "Ooh, I worked on Clinton's '96 re-election so I know what I'm talking about." Bill Clinton probably could have killed someone on 5th Ave and still been reelected in '96. Bob Dole might very well have been the most uninspiring candidate of the 20th century. Bob Dole was so uninspiring that Bob Dole probably didn't even vote for Bob Dole. Bob Dole.

B) As you said, it's just not about swing voters anymore. It's all about turnout.

[jojoju1998]

LOL at trying to pass off Mark Penn as giving good faith advice to Democrats.

This.

Also, I don't believe there are many pursuadable swing voters at all. Biden needs to keep together the very broad coalition that came out for him and was motivated mostly by the idea of kicking Trump out of office. His sole hope right now is basically that people WAKE THE  UP and realize that Trump CANNOT become president again. Forget policies, they don't really matter very much. You are never gonna pursuade people that magical great things will happen if Biden gets 4 more years. This needs to be all out negative campaigning against Trump.

This I agree with you on. This is going to be a turnout election, and the energy that goes into hating Trump is far more potent affirmative enthusiasm for Biden. His campaign just needs to make sure that rage against Trump involves voting for him instead of third parties and by turning out those voters he needs. Thankfully, the Democratic coalition has become better at turning out in elections.

Counterpoint :

2022, Biden was not the the " main " person on the democratic ticket.





Remember, in 2020, Biden barely won, and democrats drastically underperformed in the House and Senate.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

I saw the title and thought "oh who"?

...Mark Penn.

lol. Tab closed.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Another thread by OSR , whom still has a DeSantis supporter we haven't voted yet a

[TechbroMBA]

Biden has the heart of a coward. He’ll be bullied by his left flank into anything. Then they’ll spit on his legacy once he loses.

[Chancellor Tanterterg]

Silence, Republican (at OSR and Mark Penn)