Not long after his anemic performance in the first presidential debate, as his poll numbers began to slide, Joe Biden had conversations wi...
Not long after his anemic performance in the first presidential debate, as his poll numbers began to slide, Joe Biden had conversations with nervous donors and personally assured them his campaign was on track.
“People were raising serious questions about his ability to be very aggressive against Trump,” said one person who spoke with Biden.“He’s listening. He seems to be more sure of himself after that first fiasco. I think he realizes now that he screwed up.”
Many Democrats — including his own donors and admirers — continue to question whether he’s capable of recovering from a damaging first performance. They wonder whether he can exercise the discipline necessary to execute a debate plan on Wednesday, when several rivals will have an interest in taking him down.
Seldom has a candidate so well-equipped for a debate projected so much uncertainty.
“The big question he has to resolve is if he’s up to this thing, if he’s vigorous and if he’s engaged,” said David Axelrod, a former Obama advisor.
Part of the nervousness is rooted in the flatness of his first debate. Biden understood the stakes, was aware that he’d be a target and had the assistance of a top-notch team of debate-preppers. He even had Michael Sheehan, the best-known speech coach in the party, in his corner.
Still, Biden walked straight into Kamala Harris’ ambush, flailed awkwardly as he attempted to defend his record on busing and civil rights and looked anything but a front-runner.
It served as a vivid reminder of the former vice president’s headstrong ways and bad habits, acquired over decades in office. Sources who have worked to prepare him for debates in past years say he has a propensity for foregoing the advice of professionals and going off-script. It all creates an aura of uncertainty around Biden, a problem for a contender whose candidacy is built around the premise that he is the safe choice among a sprawling field of Democrats.
“It’s not like he’s willfully defiant of it. He just kind of is impulsive, in the moment. I think he thinks he’s grasped onto something glib or clever, and it turns out it’s not a good way to deliver,” said a Democratic consultant who has worked with Obama and Biden but would only speak on the condition of anonymity. “I think it’s grounded in an impulsiveness, it’s just kind of the way he is. He’s always had this issue, [today] it’s compounded by the combination of being just a little bit out of step with the contemporary theme and discussion.”
There was little evidence of the prep work that went into Biden’s first debate appearance — preparation that drew on the talents of former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm; Anita Dunn, who helped prepare Barack Obama for debates; and Ron Klain, who served as a top debate preparation advisor to presidents Obama and Clinton and nominees Al Gore, John Kerry, and Hillary Clinton.
There was also little evidence of Sheehan’s fingerprints. The veteran debate coach is known for emphasizing the theatrical aspects of the event; how to use body language or hand gestures to project a message of strength, engagement or warmth — areas within Biden’s comfort zone. Sheehan also focuses on how to avoid political kryptonite and return to safety.
The Democratic consultant, who saw Sheehan in action during sessions preparing Obama to debate Mitt Romney in 2012, said the top debate prepper helps provide a visual guide by drawing a triangle on a board and explaining that each of the corners represents a distinctive safety base of that person’s message. Those are the areas the candidate is to return to in times of doubt or duress.
But Biden didn’t seem to find many safe harbors during the debate. He even abruptly cut himself off at one point, saying: “My time is up.”
The failure to adhere to a plan shouldn’t have come as a surprise, said the consultant: “At the end of the day, can you really envision Joe Biden on the debate stage, looking up in his mental notes and saying, ‘what end of the triangle am I going to?’”
Another Democratic strategist who formerly worked with the Obama-Biden campaign team harkened to Biden’s time in the White House, saying even after days of preparation for a TV hit, Biden would sometimes utter a surprising answer on national television.
“It doesn’t matter how good the coach is,” the strategist said. “He can’t stay on the script. He’s uncoachable.”
Brett O’Donnell, a top Republican debate coach who worked with John McCain and Mitt Romney, said Biden’s first order of business is to prove that he can handle the attacks.
“I could not tell you if he’s not listening or if he’s not capable,” said O’Donnell. “He needs to raise his game. But is he capable of raising his game?”
Axelrod acknowledged that in past debate prep sessions Biden “has a strong point of view of what he should do” but, when it counted, Biden tended to stick the landing.
Against Sarah Palin in a 2008 vice presidential debate, Biden deftly navigated the challenges of an unconventional rival. When the stakes were high against Paul Ryan in 2012 after Obama flubbed his first head-to-head against Romney, Biden again came through.
“Is he capable of delivering? Yes. There was a lot on the line, we needed a circuit breaker and he did the job,” said Axelrod, who added that Biden’s strong debate performances in the 2008 Democratic primary were one of the reasons Obama chose him for the ticket. “I think that there must be a sense of urgency about this one as there was about those two vice presidential debates.”
John Rowley, a Nashville-based Democratic media consultant, said Biden’s last debate performance was enough of a “Defcon 1 reason” for him to focus intently on delivering a command performance.
“I’ll be stunned if he doesn’t have a better performance. I’ll be stunned if he doesn’t stay out the weeds on policy and maybe even takes a harder line on Trump,” Rowley said. “I think he’s got to get his sea legs after this one or whatever momentum he’s lost from the first debate could now be headed for a free fall.”
In the upcoming Detroit debate, Biden will face considerably different dynamics than in the Miami event. Harris will again share the stage with him but the new lineup includes another sharp critic on race, Cory Booker — and Biden will be standing between his two sharp critics on stage.
Other candidates, some in desperate need of capturing the spotlight, are likely to zero in on Biden as well after watching Harris’ polling and fundraising surge following her attack on the former vice president in Miami.
“I think there are a lot of candidates on the stage that are worried about making the September debate, who are looking for their own t-shirt moment,” said Biden senior adviser Anita Dunn. “I think Vice President Biden will be prepared for that.”
Biden is also telegraphing that Democratic voters will see a more aggressive candidate on stage.
“I’m not going to be as polite this time,” Biden said at a Detroit fundraiser on Wednesday, alluding to his first debate skirmish with Harris. “Because this is the same person who asked me to come to California and nominate her in her convention.”
The Biden campaign on Wednesday also responded aggressively to Booker’s attacks on his role on the 1994 crime bill, hitting Booker for a stop and frisk policy during the New Jersey senator’s days as mayor of Newark.
Biden’s deputy campaign manager Kate Bedingfield released a statement noting “since next week’s debate format will give Senator Booker twice as much time to make his attacks than it allows Vice President Biden to respond to them, we thought we would begin to respond now."
“You're not going to see him take personal swings at anybody,” Bedingfield told POLITICO in a separate interview. “[But] he's not going to shy away from defending his record and talking about the pieces of his record that has meant to change for people. I think you're going to see that from him. He’s also not going to shy away from making clear where there are real policy distinctions and their primary field.”
Bedingfield noted that Trump will remain Biden’s center of focus.
“Nobody got into this race taking the fight to Trump more aggressively than Joe Biden did,” Bedingfield said. “I think you’ll hear him do that on the debate stage.”
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