The Biden campaign is making a big bet that MAGA isolationists are more loud than powerful, and that their numbers aren’t large enough to crater his re-election bid. That bet is manifest in the newest Biden-Harris ad, which is winning praise from supporters even as it ostensibly plays into the hands of Biden’s ‘America First’ critics — who claim Biden’s priorities are skewed away from acute domestic challenges both economic and social.
Positioning Biden as an energetic and international champion of democracy, the ad (seen below) calls out the President’s “quiet strength” while dramatizing the story of his stealth visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in defiance of Vladimir Putin and Russian attempts to annex parts of its neighboring nation.
President Joe Biden's reelection campaign ad is showcasing the most pivotal moment of his presidency—a surprise visit to Ukraine in February. President Biden demonstrates the 'calm resilience of a genuine leader,' in stark contrast to that of Donald Trump.pic.twitter.com/fecjfeYi95
— Tony – Resistance (@TonyHussein4) September 7, 2023
The big bet features Biden owning, rather than backing off, one of the administration’s key priorities in backing Ukraine — a priority that’s controversial among MAGA conservatives, even if the administration’s anti-Russian stand remains aligned with traditional conservative positioning and with lawmakers like South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, who supports Biden’s Ukraine efforts.
The Biden campaign’s decision to double down on the image of Biden as an international statesman acknowledges that the Ukraine support remains broadly popular among American voters. But it can cut both ways as isolationists and America First adherents equate the President’s foreign trip as neglect of needful citizens at home.
The harrowing journey to Kyiv featured — the first ever by a President, the voiceover intones, into a war zone not controlled by American forces — shows the President away from the Oval Office and the United States, prioritizing a foreign war. When the ad brags that the journey took 40 hours, MAGA counts that as time away from the job, not on the job, while those who count global stability as essential to America’s prosperity see a leader working to maintain world order.
The Biden campaign knows the ad is an open invitation for MAGA isolationists to criticize the President’s priorities in the same way, earlier this year, they worked to create a binary choice between America’s support for Ukraine and America’s support for the train derailment victims of the East Palestine, Ohio, as if the U.S. did not have the resources to meet both crises simultaneously.
The ad takes on a calculated risk of opening Biden to further criticism from those who won’t support him anyway, while showing a commitment to his belief that most Americans still see the nation’s international role as critical to its success. The balance between this stance and a domestic pitch based on the success of Bidenomics will drive the campaign forward against MAGA headwinds. The campaign will be looking for stories of Ukraine’s success, and links from it to America’s security and prosperity at home.
