Free Advice for Biden-Harris

Issue 08

In spite of nobody having quite asked, here’s how I’d consciously consult the Biden-Harris campaign today: Announce that the remainder of the campaign will be focused on 1) supporters of the incumbent and 2) repudiating the incumbent’s presidency.

First, the supporters. We are talking about the 35-40% or so of Americans who support the president (not me) and who will still be Americans long after he’s our president. At a minimum, it’s worth finding out if any of them could be persuaded that, because their grievances today seem to be about the same as they were four years ago, maybe Biden’s and the Democrats’ overall visions and policies would actually do more to address their concerns than the incumbent’s. It’s easy to believe that will never happen and maybe it won’t. But wait, there’s more to this idea than persuading potentially unpersuadable people. Far more.

In the immediate term, it would wrest the narrative in a bold, decisive, and inclusive way. Breaking news! Biden acknowledges the political power of Trump supporters, their significant presence on our political landscape, and his intent to be the president of all Americans. The unwieldy issue of a Supreme Court vacancy parachuting into the campaign does not alter this advice, but I digress. He would start this Tuesday, a week ahead of the first debate, by announcing the first three of many pandemic-friendly, as-large-as-possible, in-person town hall events with Trump supporters this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in “ruby red jurisdictions” with moderators the audiences like in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Florida (or whichever states the campaign prioritizes).

The unwieldy issue of a Supreme Court vacancy parachuting into the campaign does not alter this advice, but I digress.

Let us confine our conversations, Biden would say, to what it is we want and what it is we believe. For example: I want to have a highly functional government; I want America to work equally for all its citizens; I want America to be a leader on the world stage. And what, he would ask these audiences, again and again and again is, what do you want? For yourselves? For our country?

He would continue: Because I need and want to understand what you believe, I will tell you more and more about what I believe. For example: I believe that there are not good and bad people in America, rather there are people who believe different things; I believe that everyone has a right to the beliefs they have; I believe I will not be able to be a good president for you if I do not understand what you believe.

Beyond controlling the immediate narrative, Biden-Harris town halls with Trump supporters will now be festivals of people talking about what they want and what they believe. God only knows what the media and punditry will be doing but we will all sense a shift. Every day, more and more of us will be getting in on the action by talking less and less about liberal and conservative and more and more about what we want and what we believe. We will all start to see how focusing on what we want elevates the public discourse far above the din of our tired right-wrong/good-bad/fight-resist dynamics. We will all start to see how focusing on what we believe points us to exactly where we agree, where we will never agree, and where we have room for persuasion. I will never believe that some people are better than other people, for example, but I might be persuaded to change my belief about charter schools.

The conscious politics practitioner — I’m lookin’ at you — will note the concepts that undergird this advice (none of which need to ever be mentioned or explained on the trail). Talking about what we want is engaging the law of attraction in a conscious manner and it’s about getting good at intention-setting. Beliefs matter, obviously. And when we stipulate that every single one of us is justified in holding whatever beliefs we hold — because we are — judgment gets dialed way down. Best of all, the whole project is rooted in being compassionate, which often simply boils down to listening. As his supporters are drenched in compassion from his opponent, the incumbent is likely to struggle.

Now, the repudiation. Biden-Harris must convince their supporters to believe that nothing is more important than voting. They should invest every possible dollar and minute of manpower in turnout, turnout, turnout infused with belief, belief, belief in the power of turnout. Russian, Chinese and any malign foreign influence or social media shenanigans or even myriad voter suppression tactics will not stand a chance against a record high-turnout, landslide, outright repudiation of everything this president and this presidency has stood for.

Though my direct line to the campaign is not currently functioning, my direct line to you seems to be in excellent working order. Thus I am expecting you and yours to be talking politics in the coming weeks in terms of what you want and what you believe is possible.

As always, let me know how that’s going. Also as always, feel free to tickle those algorithms a little bit.

---

NOTE: Who else should be reading this newsletter?