Banter Box #5: Where Biden and Trump Go From Here

Hello, TLP community!

Thanks for engaging in this week’s Banter Box, in which we sought answers to the question, “What should the Biden and Trump campaigns be doing differently?” In retrospect, the timing of this question, which we posed the day of the presidential debate, is somewhat amusing (or prophetic?) given what happened that night and how much the conversation around the presidential campaign has shifted since then. But we still received some instructive suggestions worth considering.

Our readers mostly had thoughts on what the Biden campaign should change moving forward, and many echoed sentiments that have been published on TLP before—namely, that Biden should moderate some policies, embrace “popularism,” and spend more time appealing to swing voters.

Will captured much of this nicely:

…reverse your liquid natural gas export pause (Pennsylvania) and stop talking about electric vehicles so much. Don’t tell people how they should feel about the economy! Stop running on Trump being a threat to Democracy. Talk about draconian abortion bans in red states, Trump’s tax cut for his wealthy donors, his anti-labor NLRB, and his attempt to repeal Obamacare. Do what you can to distance yourself from the educated elites who increasingly shape your party’s image. Talk more about the IRA negotiating prescription drug prices, your China tariffs, the infrastructure bill, and the Chips Act! Those are popular! Run on an abundance agenda!

However, he also offered this addendum the next morning: “Just please step down for your country.”