Biden in the Basement
While Trump speaks unfiltered and inaccurately from the White House about the virus, Joe Biden is in his basement - trying to figure out how to break through the noise.
Here are some suggestions for how he can do that.
MEMO
To: Joe Biden
From: The World
Goal: Demonstrate to the country that you are better than Trump at running a government and keeping us out of the ditch. (War, recession, pandemic) Send a message that you are a transitional figure and point toward a new, younger future.
How?
The country knows you. You have spent a life in politics - some of it good (Obama VP, negotiations with Republicans to keep government running); some bad (crime bill, Anita Hill). We understand you are an old liberal who skews moderate on stuff we care about (Abortion rights). You know how to run a government because you have seen it done up close (Obama VP and chair of several key Senate committees).
You must keep showing us you are up to the huge task ahead.
Your next step should be to make clear who will help you run the government. The Trump operation is scary to the point where people look away and hope nothing bad happens.
By showing your team ahead of time, you can give voters the confidence they need to go your way in the key swing states of Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Arizona.
Show us the competent, experienced, and professional experts you will bring to government service. Demonstrate your mastery of government operations and give the country the confidence that you will be a steadying influence in a pandemic, a recession, a war.
How do you demonstrate that superiority?
Hold a news conference or policy explainer every day. Do it at the same time. Do it from a place that is not your basement.
Televise and invite the press to your senior staff meeting once per week. Of course it will be staged, and the real one will happen later. But it will help you tell the American people what you are doing. Make sure 50 percent of the people in these meetings are women and people of color.
Initiate a weekly roundtable on a series of key issues - starting with the virus. Livestream it. Actually sit around the table and talk turkey about what needs to be done. Make sure 50 percent of the people around the table are women and people of color.
Then move on to the economy and opening the country post virus.
Then move to rebuilding the country post-Trump. Renewable energy/climate, tax policy, foreign affairs.
These roundtables will invite policy professionals and political experts to discuss a post-Trump America. This is the way you introduce the country to your future cabinet secretaries, military advisors, and other government officials.
Of course, the most powerful session would host Michelle Obama one day and her husband the next.
Done well - and this is a big question - such activities can give the voters confidence in what comes next, that you will be a far better alternative to Trump.
Who should attend these meetings and who would populate your cabinet? You don’t need to make any commitments now. Just give the country a flavor for the people you trust.
Here are some suggestions of folks who could fill any number of spots in the cabinet and who would inspire confidence in the voters. (I have left Bernie Sanders off the list because I don’t think he wants a cabinet post. I believe he wants to remain in the Senate where he can have the greatest impact.)
Elizabeth Warren - senator from Massachusetts
Kamala Harris - senator from California
Sally Yates - former acting attorney general fired by Trump for refusing to carry out his orders
William McRaven, retired Navy admirial
Preet Bharara - former U.S. Attorney for the southern district of New York, fired by Trump
Juliette Kayem - former assistant secretary for Homeland Security under Obama
Mitt Romney - senator from Utah
Stephanie Kelton - economist.
Michael Bennett - senator from Colorado
Corey Booker - senator from New Jersey
Gary Hart - former senator from Colorado (Yes - he could be Secretary of State)
Amy Klobuchar - senator from Minnesota
Stacey Abrams - the voter suppression activist and former candidate for governor of Georgia
Peter Buttigieg - mayor of South Bend, IN
Andrew Yang
Bill Gates
Merrick Garland, federal judge
Gina Raimondo - governor fo Rhode Island
Ken Chenault - ceo of American Express
David Plouffe - former Obama campaign manager
Ann Milgram - former NY state attorney general
And hundreds of others you don’t see in the news.
The goal here is a shadow government that shows the country you are ready to govern immediately by building public confidence in your team. It is professional, experienced and competent and is on line every day distinguishing itself from the reality TV show now posing in the White House.
