Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s drive-in-style town hall, held Thursday night in Moosic, Pennsylvania, highlighted the candidate’s connection to working-class Americans and contrasted it to President Trump’s allegiance to the top 1% in what was dubbed “Scranton vs. Park Avenue.”
Some other takeaways from the event:
- Biden made it very clear he is not “radical Left.” Pushed by a questioner if he would adopt the Green New Deal, Biden made it very clear that his policies, particularly his environmental policy, was far more pragmatic than those profered by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. His response to a question about fracking showed that his long-term goal for the country is an attainable net-zero emissions target while using domestic energy sources to transition to renewables. While this may irk some members of the Democratic progressive wing, it shows a political reality that can attract moderates and independents.
- Biden has an innate connection to working class people. Biden was clearly engaged with the people asking questions. He listened to their questions and spoke sincerely about the individuals’ concerns or losses. Unlike Trump in his Philadelphia town hall, where he turned all the answers to his talking points, Biden largely addressed the issues. (One noticeable exception was the “potato lady” who asked about reducing regulations.) Biden knew the subjects and demonstrated a strong grasp of the issues, unlike Trump who pivoted questions to preprogrammed answers–for example, his answers to questions about racial injustice dealt exclusively about honoring police.
- Biden will own the programs of the Obama-Biden administration without being afraid to highlight when he disagreed. Two telling moments in the discussion: the first was when Biden touted the Obama-Biden program to reduce sentences for people arrested with crack (not powder) cocaine, saying that sentences for people with powder cocaine were typically lighter than those arrested with crack cocaine. Biden brought this up to counter Anderson Cooper mentioning Trump reducing sentencing for non-violent drug offenses. It shows that Biden stands by the record of the previous administration. But Biden also mentioned how his views diverged from the official policy of the Obama administration, specifically regarding the increase in troops in Afghanistan, where Biden thought out troops should be used for counter-terrorism operations, not counter-insurgency. These are subtle but important separations to show he’s not just going to be an Obama 2.0 presidency.
- Trump’s narrative that Biden is frail and mentally unstable was trashed. For more than an hour, Biden stood on stage fielding questions. No teleprompter. No cue cards. And with cogent, on-point answers that didn’t just address the topics, but also showed the stark difference between his policies and Trump’s actions. Unlike Trump’s Philadelphia performance where he seems lost and taken aback by direct questions challenging his views, Biden was cogent and respectful of voters, showing that he’ll work for them, not reign over them.
- Bill Barr is a campaign issue. The Attorney General has become a campaign issue, not just for his unwavering defense of all things Trump, but for his rhetoric, his questionable fitness for office, and his political roadblocks relating to the coronavirus and voting. Trump will not only have to defend his record and words; he’ll have to defend Barr’s. And ultimately, Barr will become a liability for Trump with Independent and swing republicans.
- Unlike Trump, Biden has plans for the future. While it was awkward for Biden to refer people to his website to see policies being discussed–instead of going into details during the town hall–it made one thing abundantly clear: the Biden campaign has thought out policy positions on multiple issues. Trump and republicans don’t have that; Trump’s website is barren of policies. Biden hit the highlights of his proposals and then referred people to the website, something Trump cannot do because his entire campaign is, “Make America Great Again, Again (just don’t pay attention to the last eight months).” Trump’s running on the status quo; Biden’s running for America’s future.