Trump hankers for roar of the crowd while Biden takes campaign virtual

Donald Trump wants to be nominated by a Republican National Convention with all the trappings of a normal, packed event: the thronging crowds, the balloon drop, the scores of sideshow events. Meanwhile, former vice-president Joe Biden and senior Democratic officials are strongly considering a partially or completely virtual convention.

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It is a stark illustration of how the two men – and their parties – are reacting to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the 2020 race. Trump wants to get back to business as usual in the physical world while Biden and his staff are cautiously navigating a new world mostly online.

Even as America cautiously reopens from its most quarantined pandemic days, Trump has traveled across the country and been plotting campaign events and an upcoming in-person fundraiser.

Biden has been far more cautious, continuing to host online fundraisers while his team have said they are listening to health experts on how quickly to revert back to pre-coronavirus campaigning.

When he has delivered speeches or made public appearances, Trump has refused to wear a mask. Biden has made a point of appearing masked in public, a deliberate contrast to Trump.

“It’s in Biden’s interest that the campaign is a referendum on the president and not a choice,” said Republican David Kochel, who was a top adviser for Jeb Bush’s 2016 presidential campaign. “So if I was Team Biden I would probably be doing the same thing, which is being as low-key as possible, sending a more calm and reassuring message. But I don’t think that Biden needs to get out and try and hold a 10,000-person rally. It’s not his forte anyway.”

Kochel added that Trump’s approach made sense for him as well.

“The Trump strategy really makes sense as well because he really does feed off of those rallies – the energy that he gets from them,” Kochel said. “It’s an interesting platform for him to launch into his detractors and his rivals and without that platform I think it’s not as easy for him.”

Both Biden and Trump have made appearances in public since the protests sparked by George Floyd’s death have rocked the nation with scenes of unrest. Both have delivered remarks addressing those protests. But where Biden’s public appearances and comments have largely been about calling for reform, Trump has pushed a “law and order” agenda – although he has publicly acknowledged Floyd’s death.

Biden is reportedly expected to attend Floyd’s funeral next week. On Friday Trump is slated to travel to Maine to tour where he will tour a nasal swab facility.

The differing approaches extend to fundraisers as well. According to a list obtained by the Guardian, all of Biden’s upcoming fundraising events are virtual. By contrast, Trump and his team are plotting in-person fundraisers, according to Politico.

Ignoring the pandemic is also handy for a president whose response to a disaster that has killed 100,000 Americans and seen 40 million people lose their jobs has been widely slammed as chaotic and ineffective. Meanwhile, Biden’s caution emphasizes the reality that the coronavirus remains an ongoing challenge for the government.

“Protesting aside, it’s a tricky time because as we’re seeing, yes some states are starting to open back up but, as we’re seeing, the number of cases is going back up in those places. Just from a campaign perspective, trying to assess what you can do without putting people in danger [is important],” said the Democratic strategist Karen Finney, who served as a senior communications adviser for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Finney added that she doubted voters would rally around Trump’s approach to campaigning like the pandemic never happened. Americans are having to accept that this entire election cycle will be unlike other ones, Finney said.

“I think this is also part of us accepting that it’s all going to be very different, voting is going to be different,” Finney added. “We may have to settle in and be prepared that we may not have a set answer on election night. It may be a two- or three-day process.”

The Trump team and the president himself have wanted to turn Biden’s social distancing and virtual campaigning into a liability. Trump has dinged his likely rival as dotty and out of touch. Trump allies hope that if the president is confidently crisscrossing the country without a mask, doing campaign events, that will also offer a stark contrast with Biden. They hope he will appear weak to voters.

Finney, though, said the reason Trump has been attacking Biden on the Democrat’s caution is because so far it has helped Biden develop a healthy lead in the polls.

“The reason Trump is attacking [Biden] is because the basement strategy has been very successful and effective,” Finney said. Biden, Finney said, has been able to create virtual events that have been effective. “He’s been able to deliver a clear, consistent message that actually is resonating with what people hear in this time of crisis and speaking to our fears and our concerns but also trying to put forward a positive message.”