Regular Joe: The People's President

The Presidential election is six months away, but there’s reason to be concerned over Joe Biden’s re-election chances.

The polls, and Trump’s exuberant rallies and the free air time he receives from the media, the increasing ruthlessness of MAGA nation, and the conventional wisdom of the Twitterati (or is that the Exes?) indicate that he’s in big trouble.

It’s not clear that the anguish is warranted.

If Biden and the Democrats were better at branding - or at least better than Republicans - this race would be in the bag for Biden.

Down-ballot Democrats seem to be doing okay. The economic climate is favorable and improving for Democrats. Yet Joe isn’t benefiting the way he should.

Democrats can help him. They can stop being passive, in word and deed. They can stop using social media and appearances on cable to decry Republicans, and make an all-out effort to show both what they’re doing and what they plan to do.

But mostly Biden has to look like HE’s the driving force in American politics.

Just to point out the power of branding:

The left has managed to tag him as “Genocide Joe,” as if he’s somehow all-powerful and all-evil. This tag has been picked up by some on the right, to complement (even it contradicts) their that he’s feeble or nefarious, or both.

Biden has been fantastic for business. Yet the right considers him a socialist. Progressives, who’ve never much cared for him, see him as a tool of big-moneyed interests.

But logic and evidence aren’t the driving forces here. Emotion is. Right-wing conspiracy is. Twitter is.

A guy with these contradictory brands should grab the middle.  How about Regular Joe as his brand?