Never again will a candidate so insult voters and give their supporters so little enthusiasm by running small venue “events,” as Biden did in 2020. In 2024 he can’t hide in small events, and his endless gaffes and infirmities will be seen by all, even the lapdog media won’t be able to hide it.
But for Trump, being forced by lawfare to effectively run a “front porch campaign” daily outside the courtroom a different focus is apparent. The public can see the gross attempt to keep him off the campaign trail (and of course convict him for a meaningless “offense”) which will have the same effect as the campaigns of a bye gone era.
“A Front Porch Campaign” is a low-key campaign in which the candidate remains close to or at home to make speeches to supporters who come to visit. The candidate largely does not travel around or otherwise actively campaign. The successful presidential campaigns of Garfield, Harrison and McKinley are perhaps the best-known examples.
But, in general, presidential campaigners have used the mass meeting. Once the trial is over, and presumably Trump is free to hit the campaign trail, the contrast between the two candidates will come into sharp focus
A huge stadium filled with raucous supporters was a time honored method of showing the media the strength of your support, getting your message out, and energizing voters, particularly the base who would be most likely to turn out for such events.
There can be little doubt the optics of Donald Trump’s mass rallies during the upcoming campaign will do much to persuade Republican rank and file voters and Independents that Biden, whose event attendance will be embarrassing, lacks the mass appeal that would be needed for turnout.
So far, Biden has not eschewed even one attempt at a mass rally. Further, his campaign events have been sparsely attended. There must be a Biden team strategy behind this but, whatever it is it seems, at least optics wise, to be of little value.
As a negative, the contrast between Trump’s massive rallies and Biden’s must signal to voters that the enthusiasm for Biden is, to say the least, lacking. It shows, unless they have been deliberately excluded, that young people have little interest in supporting him, at least as activists.
Further, it at least raises the question as to whether he could fill a stadium, if his health and energy are up to make a filled stadium event work.
It may well be that 2024 marks a new watershed where all the fundraising for television advertising turns out to have been a waste of time and money. It may turn out that mass rallies are a thing of the past. But while Trump’s “free media” campaign appears to be working as the polls get closer, Biden’s low-profile campaigning appears to have no positives.
The media has completely ignored the contrast between Trump’s meeting turnout and Biden’s, maybe they, and Biden will be proven right, but it might also turn out to be a disastrous mistake.
