In 1992, running for his first of two terms, Bill Clinton famously said that he and his wife, Hillary, came as a package deal. “Buy one, get one free,” he said, going on to cite her strong experience at that point in promoting and managing programs in defense of American children — not to mention Hillary’s prestigious law degree. Of course, these and other facts about her career later on became cannon fodder for right-wing Smear Team Six. But it was a great and arguably successful campaign gambit on her husband’s part in an era where women’s rights were under assault and women voters were eager to vote their gender, and to see more of their own faces reflected in federal government.
Now, in 2024, a similar tack may be advisable as the Biden campaign tries to reassure that group of wary American voters that he is up to the task for another term. Of course he’ll continue to say he’s up to the job and in good shape despite his age — even while acknowledging occasional flubs of speech — and that, also given his much more welcoming and gosh-darn SANE approach to public policy, thus, he remains a hugely better choice than Darth Thumper.
But Biden might benefit from taking a page from Bill Clinton’s campaign book. Two words: TEAM AMERICA. Or, if you prefer, TEAM BIDEN. [I prefer the latter, because “Team America” has been used before in other contexts, and not always in a kind way. But it might work here, too]
Neither phrase is novel in an age and context where most politicians claim THEY are most like America, or in King Felon’s case, ARE and WILL BE America, game, set, and match. But the Biden context would be different: A public reminder that his presidency isn’t just him sitting in a lonesome Oval Office with a ticking clock on the wall. The Biden administration is an entire team, including his appointees that really do present a balanced picture of ethnic-diverse America. Also, from the Biden cabinet deeper into federal government, it’s a team with great credentials and great successes, despite the typical GOP innuendo and outright noise about impeaching many of them.
The bigger a politician’s name, the more they and their strategists tend to focus on that one person. Sensible, up to that variably point at which it isn’t. Right now, Biden is a household name, as is Trump. But like Trump, people know him for his flaws — in Biden’s case not just real but also perceived. How to counter this? Two other words; WIDEN BIDEN.
Widen out the lens through which people perceive him. He’s a thoughtful, fair-minded, and inclusive leader — all things Trump is not. CNN ran a piece soon after Biden’s inauguration, listing all the ways he brought talent and vigor and diversity to his government — a government that would “look like the country,” as Biden promised. The CNN photo illustration above leads the print version of that 2021 piece and it’s perfect. Biden should not wait until he is re-elected to remind citizens that he not only did this, he’s been doing this, and he’s going to keep doing it. AND THAT HE DIDN’T AND WON’T BE DOING IT ALONE. Or, to rewrite The Hollies: He ain’t heavy, he’s my president.
That’s the Biden insurance policy. If he needs help or falters completely, the team stands ready to continue working for a just and prosperous America.
Of course Team Biden starts with Vice President Kamala Harris, who is a former U.S. senator who knows as does Biden how to make things happen in Congress. And it echoes down the line through the cabinet, solid in so many ways. An administration that really does represent the USA in all its flavors, with multiple appointees making history as the first of their ethnic kind ever appointed to such high jobs. Of course, the team includes plenty of white men and women, too, because they make up the majority of American society, except that TEAM BIDEN is not shy about placing women and women of color into very important jobs. And LGBTQ+ talent, too.
Naturally, Republicans and their cohort pundits have worked hard to portray Harris as a light-weight if not just another Biden criminal. But that’s projection. People shopping for groceries are usually savvy to know when a product’s claims are overblown if not outright misrepresentations. Same with politics.
And by the way, TEAM BIDEN is so solid that, despite the inevitable departures of team members for one reason or another, they’ve held together like granite compared to Trump’s only term, when his own “team” went through the boss man’s meat grinder, getting fired or pushed out in breathtaking, record-setting fashion. Call that TEAM CHAOS. [Or TEAM KAOS, if you enjoyed the villainous master organization in TV’s “Get Smart” spy spoof.]
Bill Clinton said his presidency would be like buy one / get one free. Biden’s presidency has been and will remain a melting pot of excellence. Something for everyone, even the MAGA Republican crazies who are happy to take federal aid while trying to undermine democracy. Now that’s confidence. That’s delivered goods. That’s the Biden presidential insurance plan. That’s TEAM BIDEN. Elect him and you get to keep your nation.