Democrats Now Have a Huge Opportunity for Victory: Ride the Anti-Media Tide With Biden

Going Anti-Media is an unexpected path to victory Democrats should take advantage of

Who would have thought that Democrats and Joe Biden would be the leading cause of panic, hysteria, and a general roller coaster of emotions leading up to the 2024 election?

But here we are. Boring, mild-mannered Joe Biden has caused grown adults to pee their pants and throw sand at the other kids while they throw their childish tantrums on the pundit playground. All because of 15 minutes in a debate.

I do understand the concerns and anxiety. It’s obvious that Biden has lost a step, and is not the same sharp and witty politician he was. But the fact is, Joe Biden is—and has always been—likeable. Someone you’d want to have a beer with, as they say.

Have a beer

And if we’re really honest with ourselves, does much else really even matter when running for President? Before you say “obviously, yes”, think about how George W. Bush and Trump won the presidency. Both were not good debaters, especially compared to their counterparts. Both regularly looked like buffoons on the public stage. But both confounded experts and smart people in general with winning by being genuine, true-to-themselves people you could laugh and share a drink with. And be honest, who would you rather have had a beer with…..George H. W. Bush or Michael Dukakis?

The Democrats won on the same charismatic test, they just happened to be smarter and more talented at public speaking. But again, let’s apply the beer test. Bill Clinton or Bush? Bill Clinton or Dole? Obama or McCain? Obama or Romney?

I wouldn’t say Trump was especially “likeable”, but in 2016 there was an element of him being a regular guy, a “man of the people”, even though that was a construct the media and much of the electorate was manipulated into believing. But the way he talked and seemed like someone that was true to himself was very appealing across the population, obviously firing up people that were never before engaged in politics. Even though I personally would rather have had a beer with wonkish Hillary Clinton, I could see why many people would choose 2016 Trump, even if they didn’t like hardly anything he said politically.

Of course, by 2020, it was apparent that Trump had a darker side that turned people off. His everyman shtick no longer seemed genuine, and most people felt as Seth Rogen says in the movie Stepbrothers: “The tuxedos now seem kind of fucked up”. Joe Biden was the beer test winner against Trump in 2020. And not much has changed on this in 2024.

This is what the media is getting brutally wrong right now. People like Joe Biden. He’s represented stability, safety, and restful nights for almost 4 years now, and most people want that. He’s been the face of the gentle, kind, and compassionate side of America. He’s smart and experienced, but doesn’t talk like a robotic politician. He’s just Joe, and comes of literally like an Average Joe.

Just like most folks’ grandparents, he’s slowing down, doesn’t speak quite as clearly, and when he does speak it seems to take more energy. But this is relatable. He’s built up tons of good will along the way. This good will is not going to suddenly go away because people think he’s old and has slowed down. If anything, it’s going to make his fans want to defend him more.

The demise of data

I know that some pundits will point out that his approval ratings are too low, in the 30’s, so how can you say he’s likeable? Because I’ve lived in this country and paid attention to politics for a long time. I can see what works and what doesn’t. And I can see shifts in paradigms as they are happening. And I can see that approval ratings and polls are less relevant than they’ve ever been. Even if you trust them, they are currently saying so much bizarre and conflicting information, making any definitive statements based on them the same as making a random statement based on nothing.

When pundits point out the approval ratings and the share of respondents that say Biden is too old and should drop out of the race, they are ignoring that the race is essentially tied among the polls. So the guy in the 30’s of approval and people that want him to continue running for president is within the margin of error of being in the lead overall? Does this make sense? No, and they don’t attempt to explain it.

They might point out that these factors are depressing his polls numbers. Okay, then why go with the alternatives that have similar or lower poll numbers without these factors?

Let’s keep in mind that’s it’s still only July. In August of 2012, Obama reached a low that year of 43% approval rating. I know that this isn’t as low as Biden’s right now, but the point is that less than 3 months from that election, Obama was at a very low point, and then he bounced back and was over 50 by the time of the election. Then he won the election decisively.

In October 2016, it seemed overwhelmingly obvious that Hillary Clinton was going to win. The Access Hollywood tape had just come out, and Trump was sinking in the polls. Clinton was up double digits. We all know the end of this story.

Anti-media sentiment brewing

What’s happening now is Democrats and Biden supporters are getting fed up with the media narratives that Biden should drop out because he’s not fit. The pundits seem to be falling all over themselves to make this happen, and drooling with anticipation at the prospect of a contested convention. Even just a retirement on the part of Biden would be interesting news that they could report on without trying.

The combination of ignoring Trump’s crazy behavior and hyper-focusing on Biden’s missteps has antagonized a huge segment of the electorate. Many of these people, including myself to some degree, have assumed that the media would help protect the country from the rise of authoritarianism. But much like the Republicans coalescing sheepishly around Trump and his fascist tendencies, the media has been turning itself into a pretzel trying to satiate Trump’s need for affection and favor. Sometimes this means putting him front and center, other times it means ignoring him completely.

People have noticed. The current Biden hysteria has exacerbated this, and whatever amount of faith these people had in the media is largely gone now. They now know that profits are more important that truth. Generating news for clicks has surpassed actual uncovering and reporting the news for the good of society. Trump and Trumpism has exposed us to this. The media has failed the test of the responsible American institution.

As “But his age” approaches “But her emails” as the largest manufactured media faux frenzy in history, people are becoming more aware and enraged. This has done two things that Democrats can now take advantage of that didn’t seem possible just a few weeks ago:

1. Biden is now winning the media attention war

2. Anti-media sentiment among Democrats has reached a boiling point

The media attention effect

First let’s look at the irony of all of this recent media hysteria. It used to be that Trump was sucking up all the energy and attention of the media. That was good to some degree, of course, as much of the attention highlighted his negatives. On the other hand, Trump was getting the attention in the first place. He was constantly in people’s consciousness, in front of them 24/7. It was demoralizing, yet powerful in a perverse way. It sort of increased the feeling of doom, of inevitability that he’s not going away anytime soon, even if he loses the election. They say that there’s no such thing as negative publicity. Trump is a living embodiment of that statement.

But this is now reversing. You can see it and sense the effect of it everywhere, in traditional and social media. The loudest, most powerful voices used to be MAGA-related or MAGA-curious personalities. Now, they are struggling to get noticed. Just before Debategate, they were posting deceptive videos of Biden seemingly fumbling around looking and acting confused and out of touch with his surroundings.

Well, now the mainstream media is doing that work for them, so they don’t even know what to post to get attention anymore. Just after the debate, when they typically would have taken small snippets of Trump seeming coherent so they could tout how he “owned” Biden on a question, they were curiously silent, because they realized they didn’t have to desperately prop him up after yet another disastrous public performance. It honestly was, and still is, a bit eerie.

They continue to attempt to show the deceptive clips, but now they are in the context of an indisputably failed Biden debate, so they don’t the same effect anymore. These clips suddenly don’t seem so bad. They don’t have to shout so loud the Biden is old and feeble. The media is doing that for them.

Joe Biden has now replaced Trump on the front page, is now the ubiquitous one that the whole media-reading nation (which is steadily diminishing, by the way) is faced with every day. Trump is on Page 7. Biden is the one that is constantly in the consciousness of the country. Sure, not for the reasons you’d want, but it’s sure starting to seem like Biden is suddenly a force to be reckoned with.

Trump just came out on his social media platform trying to distance himself from Project 2025. Why would he so this now, in the midst of this crisis for Democrats? Think Trump is jealous? I do.

Anti-media sentiment can propel Biden to victory

Biden and Democrats can now officially take a page from the Trump playbook and decry the treatment from the media and declare their independence from them. Trump took this way too far in his concocted “enemy of the people” sentiments. But the implications were clear. Publicly currying favor with the media is not necessary to win. In fact, it can be a detriment to winning.

Biden-supporting Democrats are now disgusted with the media. Biden has been scoffing at them for months now for their constant overreporting of negatives and underreporting of positives. He’s even shunned the New York Times in their interview demands. His supporters are following his lead and cancelling NYT subscriptions in droves. This anti-media energy can be harnessed in a positive way to continue the narrative of Biden “getting back up” after being knocked down. It can be said that he’s the underdog now, and will fight his way to victory despite the untrustworthy profit-focused media trying to keep him down.

Add this to the things that will get Biden voters to the polls this fall. Abortion, democracy, stability, fear of Trump. Add “disgust of media” to the list. Own it and campaign on it. It is an opportunity that is unexpectedly presenting itself and is a powerful force that can be harnessed to aid in victory this fall.