The Joe Biden Contest

House of Cards by Nancy Ohanian

When I worked at Warner Bros, we would spend immense energy on rolling out new releases, especially for superstar artists like Madonna, Prince, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Depeche Mode, Green Day... Every department in the company would pull together to create an atmosphere that would drive radio airtime, TV appearances, advance music sales, advance ticket sales, press, word of mouth, etc. Sometimes we would plan half a year in advance to lock up scarce opportunities everyone else was competing for.

Even if you were rolling your eyes about the exploratory committee silliness followed by the "big announcements" that some of the campaigns engaged in, set-up can make a huge difference of how a candidate is perceived by the public. Howard Schultz's rollout was so lame that he managed to spend massive amounts of money to turn the public completely against him. Gillibrand didn't do that much better and is going in for a do-over. Beto had a mixed response-- confusion on the one hand, gigantic first-day "sales" and lots and lots of press for someone who isn't very well-known outside of Texas. Next up: Biden.

CNN reported over the weekend that his team is readying major endorsements and a message of strength ahead of his imminent announcement. He stumbled in a pre-announcement in Delaware last week, barking "It can't go on like this, folks. I know I get criticized and told I get criticized by the new left. I have the most progressive record of anybody running for the United States-- anybody who would run!" 3 problems:

• he let the cat out of the bag by lumping himself in with everyone running.
• did no one in his campaign know that there hasn't been a "new left" since the '70s?
• progressive record? not even close.

Since Biden has no real reason to be running other than careerism and ego, CNN reports that Biden is hoping to seize command of the highly-fluid contest through major endorsements and by pounding away that the most important thing for Democrats is to defeat Trump-- rather than to defeat Trump and replace him with a transformative agenda. It was Biden-like politicians for decades that tilled the soil for Wall Street and the plutocracy, making a Trump even possible. Elect Biden and create the environment for another Trump or... worse.

As he prepares for a possible run, Biden has hunkered down for strategy sessions with a tight knit group of advisers and held meetings with top Democrats and elected officials. One subject of discussion has been the early selection of a running mate, which one aide said would help keep the focus of the primary fight on the ultimate goal of unseating Trump.

Last week, Biden stirred speculation as he met privately with Stacey Abrams, a Democratic rising star who ran for governor in Georgia last fall and is weighing another run for office-- potentially even the presidency. Biden requested the meeting, according to a person familiar with the sit-down, which comes as the two mull their own respective political futures. Abrams also huddled with a half-dozen other Democratic presidential hopefuls, but her meeting with Biden takes on added weight because of his attempts to shore up support among black leaders amid lingering questions about his treatment of Anita Hill during the Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings and his support for a sweeping crime bill two decades ago.

Biden's team has started gaming out scenarios for what a campaign launch could look like with Wilmington, Delaware, and Scranton, Pennsylvania, where Biden was born, among several potential locations floated for an announcement rally, a source with knowledge of the discussions said. While the rest of the Democratic field settles into place, Biden's allies say the former vice president is keenly aware of the attention any announcement will draw.

"His launch will be watched by many, many eyeballs to see how he pulls it off, how much he raises," one Democratic donor in touch with Biden and his advisers said. "That's always been the question mark with him-- his discipline and his capability to execute a campaign."

One lingering question for Biden is his ability to fundraise, particularly on the small dollar, grassroots level. Other Democratic contenders like former Rep. Beto O'Rourke and Sen. Bernie Sanders have relied on massive online fundraising lists to churn out impressive fundraising figures of about $6 million.

"I think he in certain ways has been wise to string this out because the shorter the race, the better for him. He doesn't have the same demands that others have except for one that's going to be a challenge perhaps for him and that's raising money," said David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Obama and a senior CNN political commentator. "Joe Biden's not by generation and nature a social media candidate. So he can't delay this much longer. He has to get around to the business of raising the resources that he needs."

Biden has already said he won't rely on a super PAC and as he teased a possible presidential run last week. "Our elections are drowning in money, and every dark dollar chips away at our faith in the system. You're going to hear a lot about this before it's all over, I'm not in a position to tell you now," he said.

...For as long as he can, Biden hopes to focus on the imperative to defeat Trump, aides said, rather than dwelling on what distinguishes him from his Democratic rivals.

Biden, who has been carefully watching the field of Democratic hopefuls grow, will try to quickly seize command of the race. Democrats familiar with his plans say he intends to unveil a roster of prominent supporters, including black leaders whose endorsements are seen as critical to his candidacy, as the race moves beyond Iowa and New Hampshire.

One of my favorite card images

And that brings us to our contest. Who is this "roster of prominent supporters" his campaign is boasting about? Can you guess? Wait, before you guess, let me tell you who he's not getting. The most obvious is another version of himself, Ed Rendell, an old style, middle-of-the-road corporate Dem from Pennsylvania. But he's already given his heart to another centrist, Amy Klobuchar. Same problem with another Biden-type establishment Dem, Ohio's Ted Strickland, who's riding with Jay Inslee.

And scratch virtually anyone from New Jersey; Cory Booker wrapped up the whole political class, from the right (Josh Gottheimer, Jeff Van Drew and Mikie Sherrill) all the way to the mushy middle (Senator Menendez, Governor Phil Murphy) and even a couple on the left, Bonnie Watson Coleman and Was Baraka. And-- in New Jersey-- even more important: the machine bosses (Joe DiVincenzo, Donald Norcross, Stephen Sweeney, Nicholas Scutari. LeRoy Jones...).

Beto has already started picking up the kinds of politicians from the Republican wing of the party who Biden might have been counting on: head Blue Dog Stephanie Murphy, New York New Dems Sean Patrick Maloney and Kathleen Rice. Beto also nabbed Martin O'Malley. Colorado and Hawaii are wide open since the local politicians there are not thrilled about favorite son John Hickenlooper or favorite daughter Tulsi Gabbard (although her right-wing father did endorse her). And Elizabeth Warren already wrapped up Joe Kennedy III.

So... who's the big roster of prominent supporters? I don't know. But if you're good at guessing games, you can win two different gorgeous collectible decks of cards by award-winning artist Nancy Ohanian. Each card has a drawing of a different political figure's caricature, although many of them are unflattering drawings of Trump and the cast of characters he's brought onto the national stage from Putin and Flynn to Jared, Ivanka and Pence. There are also pictures of some of your favorite anti-Trump leaders, like Mueller, Bernie, Elizabeth Warren, John McCain, Hillary, to name a few. The shell of each deck was autographed by Nancy.

So here are the rules: name the Biden endorsers he'll roll out on the first day (or two days, if he waits a day to announce them). You get a point for every name you get right and lose a point for every name you get wrong. The person with the highest "score" wins the two decks of cards. Easy-- and you don't have to contribute anything-- although you can if you want to (here). Just e-mail your list to downwithtyranny@gmail.com/ Since it's a big mystery when the "big day" is, all lists have to be received by noon (PT) on April 2 or before Biden announces if he announces before April 2. If two people get the same number of points, the list that was sent first wins the prize.