What Joe Biden Says About Barack Obama

The more I think about Joe Biden, the more I feel like this is a pretty good pick for Obama. The media class clearly loves him, he’s a got a good story, and he seems to fill in a very working class role in the whole Obama narrative. All of that is well and good. What frustrates me about the pick is that it further enforces the meta narrative about Obama, and about presidential election politics in general: Obama is an “elitist,” he’s out of touch, he needs a working class, foreign policy expert to balance him out. One of the big problem with the pick of Biden (as opposed to, say, Kathleen Sebelius) is that it plays into this narrative. Michael Kinsley has an editorial in the Washington Post today that illustrates why.

With so much going their way in this election, the biggest challenge the Democrats face is simple: The Republicans just play the game of presidential politics so much better. They play it with genius, courage, creativity and utter ruthlessness.

I do not think this is as true as it might seem. One reason Republicans have been as successful as they have (and let us not forget, the Republicans didn’t win the 2000 election) is that the media is reporting on the race. In almost every category, people – even Republicans – prefer Democratic positions. But when they know that it’s a Democratic position, their like for it goes down a touch – and if it’s presented as a Republican position, it goes up. When people look at the issues, the Democrats do great. When they look at the brand, not so much.

I think this reflects the fact that, for quite a while now, the media has reflected and reported on how candidates are doing, and not what they’re saying. It’s a lot easier to show a new attack ad and then discuss whether or not it’s “effective” rather than explain the underlying issues. I don’t think there’s maliciousness in this. It’s difficult to explain some subjects. A lot of policy positions can be somewhat arcane, and on an issue like tax policy, both sides tend to leave things a little bit vague (although, it should be pointed out that McCain’s policy is a whole lot vaguer). Television news, where most people get their news, only has twenty-two minutes a night.

I don’t think that Republicans are necessarily better than Democrats at presidential politics. But I do think that a substance-free, discussion-free format, such as we have with the current obsession with who “won the cycle,” benefits the Republicans. When you’re wrong on most of the issues, it’s better to talk about something else.