Joe Biden’s Vanishing Act Isn’t Making It Any Easier to Beat Trump

With the election campaign in its final stretch, Joe Biden has taken nearly a third of September off from campaigning. It’s an enormous strategic blunder that anyone hoping for Donald Trump’s defeat should be very worried about.

Joe Biden Accepts Party's Nomination For President In Delaware During Virtual DNC

Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks to supporters in Wilmington, Delaware.(Alex Wong / Getty Images)


If it feels like you haven’t seen Joe Biden much lately, you’re not losing your mind. Not many people have.

Biden has fielded criticism over the course of the year for a, let’s say, light campaign schedule — in stark contrast to Trump’s relatively vigorous one. During the Democratic National Convention in August, some Democrats noted with puzzlement that, unlike Obama, who flew to Philadelphia for his speech despite the virtual nature of the week-long event, Biden stubbornly stayed in his Wilmington basement in Delaware. They urged him to hit the trail or, at least, talk to the press a little more often.

“If you’re not going to be out on the trail, you should be doing interviews every single day,” one frustrated strategist told the Hill’s Amie Parnes. “For whatever reason, they have determined that they can’t put him out there. That’s the worst strategy.”

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