Biden and the media ducking the 2024 campaign

President Trump, by far, garners the most news coverage, mostly about his court cases.  The only campaign coverage he gets from the left-leaning media is universally negative and is mostly about his personality and too frequent provocative statements.  Former South Carolina Governor and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley comes in second – and mostly when attacking Trump. Their positions and proposals on issues get virtually no coverage.  But issues are not what drives the Fourth Estate.

There is a reason why the demonization of Trump is the subject of most coverage of the Republican campaigns.  The Democrat campaign strategy is to make voters hate, fear, dislike and vote against Trump – and the leftwing media is all in on that strategy.  While Democrats want voters to focus only on Trump, they want minimal reporting of the Democrat primaries and other candidacies – and potential candidacies.

First, there is President Biden, himself.  He is running the same bunker campaign he ran in 2020 – but this time without the Covid Pandemic as an excuse.  Recognizing his gaffes and obvious deteriorating physical and mental condition, the Democrat strategy is to avoid frequent or even rare unscripted engagements with the press and public.  They are running a virtual Biden candidacy.

It may not be obvious to the general public, but Biden has been off the campaign trail more than any President since William McKinley ran what was called his “front porch campaign” in 1896.  Since radio became a campaign tool under President Franklin Roosevelt, and the television came of age in the 1960 Kennedy/Nixon campaign, Presidents and presidential candidates have been voracious in their appetite for media coverage.  They wanted to press the flesh.  They wanted to get out their message personally – and as frequently as possible.  They complained when they did not get the coverage they thought they deserved.

But not Biden. 

He holds fewer press conferences than any modern President.  He gives fewer speeches – and when he does, they are mostly recorded events from the television studio he has constructed in the White House.  When he does speak outside the gates of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it is mostly in closed events at which he does not take questions from the public or the press.  Biden avoids impromptu situations like Chris Christie avoids vegan restaurants. 

Biden does not engage with the press in a casual manner.  He operates more like a television show about a fictional President in which each episode is scripted and acted out in a closed environment.

Instead of speaking his mind, Biden is programmed by advisors to speak their consensus. He is a bit like those television anchors, who merely read what others had put on the teleprompter – or in Biden’s case, on those ubiquitous breast-pocket “cheat” cards that give him both script and mundane stage directions.

And then there is the issue of the traditional presidential debates.  You have not seen any on the Democrat side because Biden refuses to participate.  Strategically, it is understandable.  To say Biden is not good on his feet (when he can even stay on them) is an understatement.  He also has a problem with the issues.  He does not want to be forced into defending his policies.

In other words, the basic Team Biden strategy is to minimize Biden’s public exposure and press coverage during the campaign.  He makes so few campaign appearances and press availabilities that even the press has taken note – and are complaining.

The Democrats desire to keep the voters in the dark has another curious twist.  It is the extent to which Biden & Co. attempt to minimize the coverage of other candidates in the Democrat primaries – or those running as independents.  Of course, the biased media is more than happy to go along with the Biden strategy by ignoring the other candidates, as well. If you are not aware that Biden has competition in the Democrat primaries, you get my point.

The most credible candidate against Biden is Minnesota Democrat Congressman Dean Phillips.  He is knowledgeable and articulate. Biden has every right to fear standing on a debate stage next to Phillips.  It could  change the nature of the race. But that does not excuse the media for taking up the Biden strategy as a helpmate.  In some polls, Phillips is pulling up to 20 percent of Democrat primary vote in key states. At this stage, that makes him a credible candidate by traditional standards – and yet he gets virtually no news coverage by the media.

Another example of pretending someone does not exist by ignoring them is the independent candidacy of Robert Kenedy, Jr.  Despite his spasmodic dysphonia – a speech condition that makes his voice raspy – he has traction with a growing number of voters who are displeased with the prospect of a Biden/Trump re-match.

According to the New York Times Poll, 37 percent of voters would consider casting their ballots for Kennedy.  That makes him a contender with winning potential in a three-way race.  In a three-way contest in battleground states, Kennedy is doing remarkably well at this stage.  He garners an average of 25 percent of the vote – with Trump and Biden in the mid-30 percentile each. 

In four of the six battleground states, Kennedy trails Biden by single digits – Arizona (7%), Georgia (2%), Michigan (5%) and Nevada (8%).   Kennedy trails Biden by 12 percent in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.  According to the Times, Biden is ahead of Trump in only one battleground state – Wisconsin.

With those kinds of numbers, Kennedy should be in virtually all the major presidential news stories.  So, why isn’t he?  Could it be that the media is working for Biden to manipulate the election – and they know Kennedy is a real threat to Biden’s reelection?

And … we still have no idea what No Labels and soon-to-be-former West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin will do.  Will the media deny coverage of them too simply because they could derail Biden’s coronation?

So, why is Biden ducking – running a basement bunker campaign?  Why the blackout of the other candidates and potential candidates?  The answer is simple.   Too much focus on Biden and he loses.  Too much attention is given to credible competitors, and he loses.

They say that one of the essential ingredients to a small-d democratic election is a well-informed public.  If Biden and his media friends have their way, the folks back home will not be a well-informed public.

So, there ‘tis.