At Least Warren G. Hardings Original Back To Normalcy Campaign Got Off To A Robust Start-- Biden's? Not So Much

No one won our Joe Biden contest. Like I said 5 weeks ago when we launched it, 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... 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 was forced to try a do-over, which didn't work either. 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... and a steady decline in polling ever since.

This morning's roll-out for Biden was also a mixed bag-- a decidedly lackluster return to normalcy announcement video on the one hand but coupled with great press on the other. Last month the campaign had made a big deal about major endorsements right off the bat. That's what our contest was based on... who the awesome roster of first day endorsers would be. Mostly it was a pretty bland list of status quo type politicians like himself-- Chris Coons (D-DE), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Doug Jones (D-AL), Tom Suozzi (New Dem-NY), Lisa Blunt (New Dem-DE), Brendan Boyle (New Dem-PA) and Stephen Lynch (D-MA). Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Andrew Cuomo (D-NY), two hated figures inside the party) and already endorsed him in January. Also, Ed Rendell, who had previously endorsed Amy Klobuchar has endorsed Biden, apparently withdrawing his endorsement of the hapless Minnesota senator. Conspicuously not endorsing was Obama... but at least Team Biden picked up one from Michael Avenatti instead.

Biden's first post-announcement fat-cat fundraiser-- tonight-- at the home of Comcast executive David Cohen in Philly, is co-hosted by Biden doppelgänger and ex-Klobuchar endorser Ed Rendell and real estate heir and tycoon Ron Rubin. Oh... and infamous union-busting lawyer Steven Cozen. As local union organizer Mike Elk explained: On Monday Biden will be launching "his presidential campaign at the Teamsters Local 249 in Pittsburgh with United Steelworkers President Leo Gerard appearing alongside him. However, first, on Thursday, Biden is hosting a $2,800 dollar-a-plate fundraiser at the mansion of Comcast Executive President David Cohen in Philadelphia. Among the dozen select political power players on the host committee for Biden’s 1st fundraiser are Steven Cozen, founder and chairman of the union-busting law firm Cozen O’Connor."

According to Cozen O’Connor website, the firm specializes in union busting advertising that it helps employers to “avoid unionization through positive employee relations and regain nonunion status when employees indicate they no longer wish to be union-represented.”

The firm also boasts on its website that it helps employers to lock out their unionized workforce.

The inclusion of Cozen on Biden’s first fundraiser raises lingering questions about Biden’s continued commitment to organized labor and why so many labor leaders are eager to hop on board with Biden.

On Monday, Biden is slated to announce his bid for election as President at the Teamsters Local 249 in order to emphasize Biden’s understanding of white working-class Americans in Trump Country like Western PA.

Congressman Conor Lamb, who Biden campaigned extensively for during his upset 2018 special election victory in a district that went for Trump by 14 points, is expected to endorse Biden at the rally; emphasizing Biden’s understanding of white working-class voters and win elections in places like Western Pennsylvania.

(Coincidentally, Conor Lamb’s wife Haldeman was forced to resign from Jones Day following a Payday Report expose in January on her work at the firm).

Despite the fact that Steelworkers Union has not formally endorsed as legally required under the union’s constitution, United Steelworkers (USW) President Leo Gerard told Politico that his members would show up on Monday  “wearing USW gear” to give Biden a picturesque Steelworkers photo op for his Presidential announcement.

Although Biden as Vice President pushed the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which the Steelworkers opposed, Gerard said that his union members would be excited to back Biden... In recent years, the Steelworkers have garnered a reputation as being one of the more conservative unions in the labor movement.

The Steelworkers came out against the Green New Deal and have taken the side of U.S. Steel as they appeal Clean Air Enforcement actions. In January, a mob of over 200 Steelworkers heckled African American PA. State Representative Summer Lee at a hearing on the air quality crisis plaguing Pittsburgh.

...[M]any of the labor leaders of the more white-male lead construction and manufacturing unions like Gerard have decided to get behind Biden... By 2030, a majority of the labor movement’s membership is expected to be composed of people of color.

The support of many of the more conservative labor leaders for Biden will likely only deepen divisions over issues of race and gender within the labor movement.

For many in the rank and file of the increasingly diverse labor movement, the decision of so many old white male labor leaders to hop on Biden, an inconsistent an ally of organized labor, is head-scratching.

“The people who run American labor are often stupid. This is obvious” wrote African American Pittsburgh-area union activist Phillip Shropshire on facebook.

Biden has never exactly been sensitive to African-Americans. And the unfortunate picture above came right from his official Instagram page this morning, the day of the launch. That's hardly the only sloppy thing about Biden's launch today. As Joe Concha pointed out this morning, the roll-out couldn't have been done in a more "awkward, authentically challenged way-- via a video message."

The 76-year-old frontrunner-for-now is apparently following the dubious strategy of 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Clinton also launched in a perfectly homogenized, almost Hollywood-like production of her campaign four years ago.

The problem is, a video doesn't connect or inspire voters the way a live announcement in front of a raucous crowd could. Now Clinton and Biden share one very big thing in common: a campaign launch lacking energy.

There's also reported squabbling among Biden's advisers leading up to the big day. It reportedly got so bad that one Biden aide told  Time recently that he's "never seen anything so half-assed." Tell us how you really feel...

“They’re improvising and doing last-minute planning. The guy has been running for President since 1987 and can’t figure the basics out, like where to stand on his first day? This should make everyone very nervous," the aide added.

Then there's the matter of Biden's schedule. Instead of spring-boarding off all the media coverage he'll undoubtedly dominate on Thursday, Biden will again mimic Clinton in taking a long weekend break before making his first campaign stop on Monday in Pittsburgh.

With 20 other Democrats running for the nomination-- and thereby slicing up the press coverage pie multiple ways-- waiting four days before appearing on the stump is not taking advantage of his position as the candidate with the best name recognition.

...Biden has run for president several times before. Each time, he didn't come remotely close to earning the nomination. Polls show — for now, anyway-- that he is best positioned to beat President Trump, making him the safe choice. But safe choices don't tend to do well in these situations-- think John Kerry, John McCain, Mitt Romney or Jeb Bush.

Then there's the matter of what the Democratic Party, and arguably the media, increasingly doesn't want: old, white, establishment. The establishment part is especially important, because one could argue the past two presidents elected were anything but establishment, in Trump and President Obama. Both men were seen as outsiders. Both were sent to change the status quo of Washington.

Unfortunately for Biden, he's the most prominent example of a living, breathing establishment politician.

...Add it all up, and you have Biden launching a presidential campaign through a pre-packaged video, infighting in the campaign before it has even launched, no events planned for days after launching, a huge lag in fundraising, and the president he worked for won't endorse him when he needs it most.

Joe Biden by Nancy Ohanian