The Biden presidency needs a digital reboot
Instead of trying to be the last analog president, Biden should adopt an entirely different strategy, suited to the modern internet age, in a way that showcases him doing what he does best — being presidential.
President Joe Biden’s biggest problem stems from being trapped in the old analog TV politics. The president is a product of this bygone age. This proved disastrous in a hastily called evening press conference on Feb. 8, in which the nation saw the president and the news media engaged in a shouting match that diminished everyone in the room. Only those trapped in an analog past would have believed such a press conference could address Biden’s age issue, which was reignited by the special counsel’s report.
Instead of trying to be the last analog president, President Biden should adopt an entirely different strategy, suited to the modern internet age, in a way that showcases him doing what he does best — being presidential. We concede that our proposal — the oldest president ever would be best served by embracing the newest digital politics — is counterintuitive. But there is a clear communications logic here.
President Biden should do the following: First, start having weekly cabinet meetings accessible to all Americans over the internet. That’s right — Zoom the meetings across the country, with anyone allowed to watch. The American people should see Biden as their president leading his cabinet in discussing solutions to pressing problems.
In our view, President Biden is uniquely well qualified to get the most out the very people being paid to run the government. In common parlance, this president is a workhorse, not a show horse. He will sparkle when Americans see him doing the work of the presidency, not talking about it; he’s just not very good at talking about it. Biden and his staff say that he is getting the job done and that is what matters. Fine. Let the people see it.
Second, we further urge the president to do what Al Gore promised to do 24 years ago: put the internet inside the Oval Office. The American people need to see President Biden meeting in the most historic room in America with staff, generals, foreign dignitaries, elected officials and citizens. Make the White House truly the people’s house.
Third, let the American people likewise see Vice President Kamala Harris at her job. We suspect that, as with President Biden, showing the vice president at work will present a very different picture from her current public image, which also has suffered from reliance on traditional means of communications.
The analog presidency served America well before the spectacular growth of digital technology. Back then, it was enough for a president to give the occasional national address, periodic press conferences or the usual staged public events. But in the digital age, talk has become too cheap and too twisted. Let’s see the president (and vice president) working in real time, addressing the nation’s problems.
President Biden’s recent use of social media has won plaudits, especially his posts immediately after the Super Bowl tweaking conspiracy theorists. That is all good and necessary in an era when social media dominates public discourse more than old media does. But remember, he’s running once again against an opponent who rose to the presidency largely on his adept use of social media. Biden can compete at this game, but we doubt he can win at it.
What Biden undoubtedly can win at, though, is showing the country he is doing the job, while Donald Trump can only talk about personal grievances, law suits, thirst for revenge and just about anything other than policy.
If this idea seems far-fetched, consider that presidents in the past have succeeded when they adapted to fundamental change in means of communications. In the 1930s, Franklin D. Roosevelt became the first president to be defined by radio, then the newest mass communication technology. Then came television, which put a presidential face to the voice in real time. In the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower became the first chief executive to use the Oval Office to address his constituents. John F. Kennedy participated in the first televised debate between the major party presidential nominees. Americans had never seen a potential president in such an intimate setting speaking directly to them. JFK, a generation younger than Ike, realized TV’s presidential power. He was the first president to use televised White House press conferences to define his image with the people.
Television and traditional media still matter a great deal to presidential imagery, but social media has supercharged the pace of modern communications. It’s a tough environment in which to lead a country while trying to cut through all of the noise.
President Biden has not thrived at the media aspect of his job. The latest press conference disaster showcases that painfully. His supporters complain that, leaving aside public performance, the president is succeeding remarkably. He should play to his strengths and let Americans see him doing the job, rather than talking about it.
Paul Goldman is a Richmond, Va. attorney and former chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia. Mark J. Rozell is dean of the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.