Joe Biden needs to find his voice for election battle

Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders go the pandemic bump ahead of their last debate. Picture: AP

It took Joe Biden more than three decades to lock up the Democratic presidential nomination, and his task is about to get even more difficult.

With Bernie Sanders’s departure from the race, the former US vice-president faces a six-month obstacle course, made exceedingly more complicated by a pandemic, to unite the party and build an election battleship to face Donald Trump.

Mr Biden, making his third presidential bid, will need to navigate a series of hurdles, from bringing together factions within the party, to choosing a running mate and raising money during a time of economic duress.

Above all, Mr Biden will need to compete against a President who has dominated the airwaves with daily coronavirus briefings.

“Creative minds have got to figure out a way for him to connect with voters but also break through the news,” said Leah Daughtry, who ran the Democratic Party’s national conventions in 2008 and 2016.

“It’s all pandemic, all the time. Very little else gets covered.”

A day after Senator Sanders pulled out, Mr Biden announced updated policy positions on Medicare and college affordability, the result of weeks of meetings with the Vermont senator’s team.

The announcement represented an initial overture to Senator Sanders, but progressives, including young people who were electrified by his candidacy, are still looking for more from Mr Biden, including assurances he would install people who ­reflect their views in a ­future ­administration.

“If Joe Biden is serious about making sure that those people vote and don’t just stay home in November, he needs to do something to show where they’re coming from,” said Karthik ­Ganapathy, a veteran of Senator Sanders’s 2016 presidential bid.

Mr Biden’s campaign has gone all-digital, using live-streams, podcasts and online town halls as substitutes for traditional events. The campaign has rolled out a virtual rope line allowing Mr Biden to talk to a group of supporters one person at a time.

Mr Biden has begun his vice-presidential search and is committed to picking a woman. His team will need to decide whether he should make an early selection in hopes of grabbing headlines or wait until August before the convention, when nominees typically make such announcements.

He said at a recent fundraiser that there had been discussion about announcing his choice ­before “the usual time”, but he said the vetting process would “take a while”. Barack Obama has urged him to look for someone with experience in areas where he is lacking, Mr Biden said.

Contenders include former rivals, such as Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar and Elizabeth Warren, along with Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and former Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. In recent days, Mr Biden heaped praise on Ms Whitmer during a podcast interview and Senator Harris at a virtual fundraiser.

Mr Biden plans to name a team this month to conduct his search. Former White House counsel Bob Bauer has been involved in the vetting process.

The decision will be consequential for Mr Biden, who turns 78 in November and would be the oldest president to enter office.

Never a fundraising juggernaut, Mr Biden will start the general election at a significant disadvantage. Through to the end of February, Mr Trump and the Republican National Committee had a combined $US225m in the bank, while Mr Biden’s campaign had $US12.1m.

Mr Biden will be seeking to ­finance a larger campaign organisation at a time of economic upheaval. “There’s clearly a sensitivity to the current economic climate, but at the same time people want to contribute,” said Michael Kempner, a top Biden fundraiser. “They want to help.”

The Wall Street Journal