Biden Builds a Big Tent - Rob Horowitz

Biden Builds a Big Tent - Rob Horowitz

Joe Biden used last week’s Democratic convention to issue an effective appeal to the broad middle of the electorate, including right-leaning independents and disaffected Republicans. The former vice president did so both in his own speech accepting the nomination and through giving prominent Republicans prime speaking slots to create a permission structure for those voters who are unhappy with Donald Trump, but still uncertain about whether or not to cast a ballot for a Democrat.

Biden was able to keep his focus mainly on the critical sliver of voters that are still persuadable because he had moved quickly and deftly to unify the Democratic party, once he locked down the nomination, bringing his major more progressive rivals for the nomination, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren strongly behind his candidacy.  These efforts were, of course, made easier by Democrats nearly universal belief that President Trump is unfit for the office and that a second term could do permanent damage to the nation,  posing a real threat to our democracy.

The former vice-president emphasized our shared values--highlighting what brings us together as Americans--and asserting that President Trump has undermined those values, appealing to our worst instincts, not the ‘better angels of our nature’: “The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long. Too much anger. Too much fear. Too much division,” Biden remarked.  Here and now, I give you my word: If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst. I will be an ally of the light not of the darkness. It's time for us, for We the People, to come together.”

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Drawing an implicit, but impossible to miss, contrast with the current occupant of the Oval Office, Biden went on to say, “But while I will be a Democratic candidate, I will be an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn't support me as I will for those who did. That's the job of a president. To represent all of us, not just our base or our party. This is not a partisan moment. This must be an American moment.”

Biden’s speech was well-delivered and well-crafted, even praised by some conservative pundits and operatives, including Karl Rove.  He also benefited from the Trump campaign’s ill-advised efforts to caricature the former vice-president as nearly senile, which had the predictable result of lowering expectations, making Biden’s very good speech seem even better.

But Biden did not rely on his speech alone to make an explicit appeal to moderate and conservative voters who certainly do not agree with all of his policy positions. He enlisted prominent Republicans and veterans of Republican administrations to make the case. John Kasich, a popular former Republican Governor of Ohio, Chair of the House Budget Committee and the runner-up to Trump in the battle for the Republican Presidential nomination in 2016, spoke to the nation in prime time describing Biden as a unifier and sounding the same themes as Biden did in his address: “I’ve known Joe Biden for 30 years. I know his story of profound grief that is so deeply affected his character joins a good man. A man of faith. A unifier. Someone who understands the hopes and dreams of the common man in the common woman. A man who can help us to see the humanity in each other...He knows the path to a restored America lies in respect and unity and common purpose for everyone. There are areas we disagree. That’s okay. That’s America. Whatever our differences we respect one another as human beings.”

Similarly, Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs under Republican presidents said, “The values I learned growing up in the South Bronx and serving in uniform were the same values that Joe Biden's parents instilled in him in Scranton, Pennsylvania. I support Joe Biden for the presidency of the United States because those values still define him, and we need to restore those values to the White House.”

Cindy McCain, wife of John McCain, Christie Todd Whitman, former Governor of NJ and EPA Administrator under George Bush and former Representative Susan Molinari were among the other Republicans that spoke at the Democratic Convention, all sending a message that issue disagreements were less important than standing up for the traditional American values that they share with Joe Biden and believe are threatened by Donald Trump.

Towards the end of his speech, Joe Biden returned to a persistent thread in his candidacy, arguing that his election was fundamentally a battle for America’s soul: “May history be able to say that the end of this chapter of American darkness began here tonight as love and hope and light joined in the battle for the soul of the nation.”   Enhanced by the Republicans he enlisted, Biden aptly used the spotlight of the convention to make a forceful and compelling case that something far more fundamental than policy choices are on the ballot. That is a case that has strong appeal beyond party and ideology--one that the former vice-president effectively brought front and center last week.

Rob Horowitz is a strategic and communications consultant who provides general consulting, public relations, direct mail services and polling for national and state issue organizations, various non-profits, businesses, and elected officials and candidates. He is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Rhode Island.