Say it’s so, Joe

 Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have fallen into the Hillary Clinton trap.

Which is really the Donald Trump trap.

Biden and Harris seem to be spending the bulk of their time campaigning against Trump rather than letting us know their vision for America.

Unfortunately, as the nation learned in 2016, saying, ‘I’m not that guy’ over and over might win the popular vote, but it may not be enough to win the White House. Sure, highlighting the fact that the President minimized and mucked up the coronavirus, leading to 200,000 deaths and an enfeebled economy, makes sense. And denouncing the President’s Twitter racism and authoritarianism is entirely appropriate. But these are empty gestures if you don’t show exactly what you are going to do and how it’s going to save America.

Here’s the thing: everyone, including every single one of Trump’s supporters, knows his faults. In focusing on them, the Democrats convince no one. But they allow Trump to keep everything revolving around him.

This may seem useful if your strategy is to win back middle-of-the-road Republicans. But this is not a route to victory – because there are too few middle-of-the-roaders to matter. And forget about trying to peel off various sects of right-wingers. Anti-maskers and anti-vaxxers are a COVID death cult. The white supremacist gangs called militias are pumped out of their minds, parading around with their assault weapons. And the so-called Christian right is so gleeful at the possibility of a conservative majority on the Supreme Court that they seem to have signed away their own values.

So what’s an everyday Joe to do? First, Biden needs to let people know who he is. After a lifetime in politics, it may seem as if we should know this – but we don’t. He needs to demonstrate once and for all that he’s not a typical pol, twisting and turning in focus-group-tested opportunism. The President, George W. Bush famously said, is the decider – and the public needs to know what kind of decider Biden will be. We need to get a sense of his gut.

If Biden truly wants to be President, he has to start acting like one. He and Harris need to frame out, in firm, proud terms, what they will do about the biggest issues facing America. Call it a get-your-hands-dirty agenda for the first hundred days. We need to know what in their first three months in office, they will do about the following issues:

•         People are dying, both literally and economically, from a virus. Biden and Harris have to show us what they will do about coronavirus – and they should challenge the current administration to do it now, even as the campaign is progressing, because it will save lives and save the country.
•         Biden and Harris need to speak to their policies on climate change – which has scorched millions of acres in Oregon and California and, in coming decades, is sure to require drastic changes in how American does business.
•         They must speak, in serious and emotionally resonant terms, about their plans on immigration and systemic racism.
•         Biden and Harris need to travel to the rust belt and the farm belt. They must speak to working people all over the country, stating unequivocally that they will be valued in every decision they make.
•         Finally, they must promise the public they will restore our country’s reputation in the world.

If Biden and Harris think that simply shaking their heads at the things Donald Trump says and mumbling platitudes offers a risk-free route to the White House, they have gravely miscalculated – in fact, they might as well simply campaign together every day wearing matching T-shirts that say “I’m with stupid,” with arrows pointing at each other.

America is on the edge. Our institutions, the checks and balances created by the founders of the republic, are crumbling. America’s democracy is on the ballot in this election. People need to see that Biden and Harris understand this, that they have a vision that will restore and repair and reclaim the country.

Say it’s so, Joe. Make it so, Kamala.