Joe Biden is running as the truly decent and caring guy. There is only so negative that it makes sense for this Democratic presidential candidate to be as he campaigns to replace Donald Trump.
On the other hand, it is the profoundly (and actually quite unthinkably) negative nature of the Trump presidency that is the overriding issue of this campaign. The way Trump damages the nation— perverts the rule of law, assaults the constitutional order, sacrifices the national interest, tramples on the vital norms that have protected the integrity of our governmental system — with virtually every action and every word, is the most important thing for the American people to understand as they prepare to vote over whether or not Trump will be re-elected, which many astute observers fear might spell the end of the American experiment.
Democratic primary voters clearly understood that it is ridding the nation of the dangerous destructiveness of the Trump presidency that is Job # 1 (and #2). “Defeating Donald Trump!” That’s what Democratic voters told pollsters was the most essential thing, as the many good Democratic candidates took the field for the primary battle.
And that’s what explains the way they stampeded to Joe Biden — whose campaign took off only when it became clear to the Democratic electorate that it was Biden (not Sanders, by then the only other real choice) who should be the Democratic standard bearer in an election in which the only thing that really matters is that our candidate will defeat Donald Trump.
So it is essential that the Democrats do a good job of getting the American people to perceive the essential truth of this moment of our history: The United States has a President who is corrupt, criminal, self-serving, and broken in a variety of other ways. A man that represents exactly who should not be President: a liar, a bully, a sociopath, who cares only about himself.
Because there are limits to how much of that job should be done by Joe Biden, the job will surely fall on whoever Biden picks to be VP. The VP position is famous in general for being the “hatchet man” (or, now, “hatchet woman”) job. (Nixon’s use of Agnew, delivering divisive and contemptuous messages written by Pat Buchanan, is the main case in point. But the VP position is generally that of “attack dog,” to whatever extent seems appropriate.)
And some of Biden’s possible picks — like Kamala Harris (what she did to Barr) and Elizabeth Warren (how she dismantled Michael Bloomberg) — seem to be skilled and strong enough to do that job well.
But in the case of Donald Trump, the task of painting the negative picture of the opponent is so huge, [and the success in persuading the American people of such historical importance] (will American democracy survive?), that it should not all fall on the shoulders of one person.
I would like to propose adding one other voice to the campaign, someone not on the ticket, but instead exercising a parallel function of telling the American people — as powerfully and persuasively as possible — what Donald Trump is and why it is imperative that the powers of the presidency should be taken from him.
We’ve already seen one person speak so strongly that it may resound through history as one of those moments — like “have you no decency,” and “I have a dream,” and “a day that will live in infamy” — whose videos future generations will watch. We’ve already heard someone step up to the microphone — time after time— and give a stirring speech that is simply saturated with the integrity of speaking the moral truth.
We’ve seen it in the hearings of the House Intelligence Committee, where witness after witness described the corruption and criminality and selfishness of this President, and then where one Democrat summed it up at the end of each session, getting out of his usual lawyerly posture and entering into the realm of prophetic speech.
And then we saw it when he captained the House Team that presented the case for Impeachment to the U.S. Senate. His warning of the dangers of having such a man occupy the presidency even for an additional year, regardless of how the election goes, has been played repeatedly on TV, as the nation now pays a price in tens of thousands of needless deaths as well as needless prolongation of the economic pain.
(And all because we had a President who refused to do what the leaders of almost all other advanced countries have done, a President who will always sacrifice the nation — just as with Ukraine — in pursuit of the one goal that matters to him: meeting his own corrupt needs— in this case, winning-reelection.)
This eloquent Democrat already shown himself to be the most powerful voice the Democrats can muster for this particular purpose.
(More powerful than Speaker Pelosi, more powerful than Obama. They can help, but the one person the Democrats should put onto the stage, off to the side, giving his commentary parallel to how the Presidential and Vice Presidential nominees are campaigning.)
Adam Schiff, I propose, should step up and create some regular forum where he speaks to the Press, and thus to the American people, in the prophetic voice that he used in those hearings, as he drovethe House toward righteous impeachment. In the prophetic voice that he used when he summed up the impeachment charges to the Republicans, exposing the moral bankruptcy that voting to acquit this President would demonstrate.
He should work it out with Biden in advance, as part of creating a strong team of three to fortify the campaign. But Biden should definitely welcome the proposal. Adam Schiff is a sterling figure with an uncommon set of abilities and characteristics that suit him to this job.
And history calls upon all those who care about preserving what’s best about America to do everything in their power to make sure that this time of a Trump wrecking ball comes to an end. And that we get a president who is decent, caring, and competent— who will have the desire, and the ability to create a team with the ability, to begin to repair and restore this damaged and degraded nation.
What do you think, Mr. Schiff? Can you hear history calling you to up your game to whatever level will have the biggest positive impact on the outcome of this presidential election? (“Up your game” meaning once again turning down the lawyerly dial, and upping the prophetic dial, whose role has been since the days of the Bible to call out evil in places of power, when they see it.)