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Nostalgia 2020: Biden, like Trump, seeks to make America great again

Throughout the Democratic primary, Joe Biden has argued he鈥檚 the candidate best positioned to beat President Donald Trump: the personable, been-there-done-that former vice president who鈥檚 moderate enough to appeal to independents in key swing states, and maybe even some Republicans.

But while casting himself as the president鈥檚 strongest opponent, Mr. Biden is also leaning into a message that is in some ways uncannily reminiscent of Mr. Trump鈥檚 own pitch in 2016 鈥� his own variety of 鈥淢ake America Great Again.鈥澛�

Mr. Biden frequently speaks about reviving the middle class, which he calls the 鈥渂ackbone鈥� of this country. The rest of the world is laughing at our once-respected nation, he tells voters, and only a change in leadership will restore America to the prosperous superpower it once was.聽On a recent聽bus tour in Iowa, the former vice president tells audiences what a shame it is that parents have to turn down the volume when the president appears on TV, for fear of their children hearing something nasty or inappropriate. A聽grandfather who uses words like 鈥渕alarkey,鈥� he jokingly apologizes that one side of the room has to look at his bald spot while he speaks.聽

Typically, political campaigns, especially presidential ones, focus on the future. Candidates offer fresh visions for the country, detailing innovative plans that would usher in a new, modern era of peace and prosperity.聽

But if Mr. Biden, who served in the Senate for more than three decades, wins the Democratic nomination, then the general election next year will feature two septuagenarians who spend a great deal of time talking about the past.

鈥淎dvertisers have been using nostalgia for decades,鈥� says David Pizarro, a psychology professor at Cornell University. The Biden and Trump campaigns 鈥渁re taking a page from a strategy that has worked well for, say, Coca-Cola.鈥澛�

And while it may be less common in politics than themes like hope or change, Mr. Pizarro says it makes sense that campaigns today would employ nostalgia as a tool. Because despite 鈥渢ons of things being way better than they ever have been鈥� 鈥� such as longer life expectancies and improvements in education, for example 鈥� most people believe the country is worse off now than in the past.

鈥淧art of the reason is that it鈥檚 easier now than ever to see all the bad things,鈥� says Mr. Pizarro. 鈥淎nd because of that, it can really seem like things are getting worse and worse.鈥澛�

The Obama connection

One difference between Mr. Biden鈥檚 and Mr. Trump鈥檚 use of nostalgia, says Mr. Pizarro, is the time period of their idyllic years. Mr. Trump鈥檚 鈥淢ake America Great Again鈥� can mean different things to different people, but it clearly harks back to a time well before the Obama years. By contrast, Mr. Biden is wrapping himself in the Obama presidency 鈥� hoping to benefit from the warm feelings many Democrats hold for the former president, and聽the desire of many voters to return to the relative 鈥渘ormalcy鈥� of that era.聽

In Ames, Iowa, for example, a woman asks him about improving Amtrak, but before she sits down, she tells the former vice president: 鈥淚 back you because you worked well with Obama.鈥�

The same goes for Wartburg College students Makayla and Sidney in Waverly.聽鈥淔or me, it was his connection with the Obama campaign,鈥� says Makayla, explaining why she decided to come hear Mr. Biden speak.聽

To be sure, Mr. Biden is also careful to cast his vision forward. When a voter at Iowa State asks him聽how he plans to repair the damage from President Trump鈥檚 first term, he responds:聽鈥淚鈥檓 not going to just repair. I want to build on what Barack and I built.鈥澛燗t a community college in Iowa Falls, he says he is 鈥渕ore optimistic than I鈥檝e ever been鈥� about the future of America.聽

鈥淎s Vice President Biden said, he鈥檚 running not to take us back to a fondly remembered past, but to build on our accomplishments,鈥� says Bill Russo, the campaign鈥檚 deputy communications director. That includes beefing up Obamacare by adding a Medicare-like public option, reentering the Paris climate agreement while looking to 鈥渦p the ante鈥� on climate change, and reauthorizing and updating the Violence Against Women Act to include modern problems like online harassment, Mr. Russo says.

Still, the former vice president frequently evokes the past 鈥� particularly when speaking about America鈥檚 image abroad.聽

Mr. Biden鈥檚 鈥淣o Malarkey!鈥� tour in Iowa coincided with the NATO summit in London where foreign leaders, including Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson were caught on tape appearing to mock President Trump. At first, Mr. Biden said he would wait to comment because of his personal policy of not criticizing presidents while on foreign soil. But by the end of the day, he was referencing the tape directly and his campaign had 聽saying four more years of President Trump would make it difficult to ever 鈥渞ecover America鈥檚 standing.鈥澛�

Substantively, it makes sense that Mr. Biden would focus both on mending international relationships (he has more foreign policy experience than any of the other Democrats running), and restoring elements of the Obama era (he was there in the White House, after all).聽

It also makes sense stylistically, says Travis Ridout, co-founder of the Wesleyan Media Project, which tracks political advertising. One of Hillary Clinton鈥檚 problems in 2016, he says, was that voters seemed to want change after eight years of the Obama administration. Mrs. Clinton tried to sell herself as a change candidate, but the message didn鈥檛 really fit, since she was聽a longtime establishment figure who had served in the Obama administration. Mr. Biden would likely have similar difficulties if he tried to market himself that way.聽

鈥淎n 鈥業鈥檓 the change we need鈥� message is just not going to work coming from Joe Biden,鈥� says Mr. Ridout. 鈥淎uthenticity is important in politics.鈥澛�

A transition figure?

Recently, 聽that Mr. Biden has been signaling to close allies that, if elected, he would likely serve only one term. The Biden campaign quickly issued a denial, saying Mr. Biden would not make a one-term pledge and that it is not something the former vice president is thinking about.

But Mr. Biden鈥檚 age 鈥� he would be 82 years old at the end of his first term 鈥� may be his biggest liability as a candidate. And in some ways, he has been presenting himself as a kind of transition figure 鈥� a trusted, steady hand who can help stabilize the government after the chaos of the Trump years, while the nation figures out what it wants going forward.

That sense of familiarity may help explain why Mr. Biden has continued to hover at the top of 聽and in the top tier in Iowa and New Hampshire surveys, despite lackluster fundraising and smaller crowds than some of his rivals. Indeed, while other candidates have shot to the top of the pack at different times only to fall back again, Mr. Biden has shown steady resilience.

The most recent Iowa poll, from Emerson College, shows Mr. Biden back in the lead in the Hawkeye State, after a spate of November surveys showing Pete Buttigieg, the fresh-faced mayor of South Bend, Indiana, on top.

More than a dozen voters across four town halls say they are torn between Mr. Biden and Mr. Buttigieg. At a Biden event in Iowa Falls, one woman says she is leaning toward Mr. Buttigieg because the country might need a younger president. Another says she is leaning toward Mr. Biden because of his experience, but would like to see Mr. Buttigieg as his vice president.聽

鈥淚 would vote for [Biden] in a minute if he gets the nomination,鈥� says Kurt Kelsey after hearing Mr. Biden speak in Iowa Falls. Still, he and his wife, Arlisse,聽who farm corn, soybeans, and hay, say they鈥檙e leaning toward some of the other Democratic candidates. Mr. Kelsey likes New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Mayor Pete, and Mrs. Kelsey says she likes Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar.聽

鈥淸Biden] said some good things, but not really how he鈥檇 do it,鈥� says Mr. Kelsey, who鈥檚 wearing a 鈥淣o Malarkey!鈥� sticker on his jacket. 鈥淗e doesn鈥檛 really have a plan.鈥�

鈥淏ut I agree with him that we can鈥檛 have four more years of Trump.鈥澛�