With Hillary’s 2016 fiasco and the whole 2020 business conveniently forgotten, Biden and RINOs want to do it like Obama in 2012 and recapture the magic but there are crucial differences, the most important being that Trump is not Romney.
President Joe Biden’s campaign manager, Julie Chavez Rodriguez, seeks to allay supporters’ concerns about his reelection chances by drawing parallels with President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign. Rodriguez emphasizes Biden’s strategy of focusing on former President Donald Trump’s comments and policies rather than solely promoting his own record. This approach mirrors past White House incumbents who aimed to negatively define their opponents. However, Trump, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination, is already well-defined in the public eye. Some Democrats caution against repeating the mistake of 2016 by making the race too Trump-centric, urging Biden to emphasize his own accomplishments and prioritize issues like abortion privileges (to convince hardcore Democrats) and low unemployment rate (to convince moderates and non-Democrats in general).
Biden’s campaign aims to draw clear contrasts between him and Trump, with a focus on “unconventional outreach methods reflecting shifts in media consumption”, which probably means we’ll see more of Biden on TikTok or something. Unlike 2012, Biden boasts legislative accomplishments, such as infrastructure, but faces challenges like low approval ratings, questions about age, and economic concerns fueled mainly by inflation. Obama campaign veterans play key roles in Biden’s team, highlighting a desire to shift the campaign’s focus to the threat posed by Trump rather than Biden’s own record. The 2024 dynamics, more polarized than 2012, suggest the election will be a referendum on Trump rather than a traditional campaign. However, this is not a 2012 strategy but rather a 2016 one!
