Joe Biden Presidential Primary

Joe Biden Presidential Primary
The effective use of free and paid media strategies will be critical in getting Biden through the primaries and into the general election to face off against President Trump. This will include get out the vote plans and polling strategies to obtain a clear idea as to how Biden stands with voters in each of the key demographics. Where Biden will need to impress early on is with core Democrats, both older and younger, the idea being to energize the base early and provide it with legs so that the enthusiasm builds with his lead in the primaries. Voters do not want a candidate they cannot rally behind—and the key message in the primaries will be: What does this person embody? Can this person defeat Donald Trump? Does this person reflect the values of the upcoming generation? Biden comes across as a likeable politician who combines years of experience with genuine affection for people of all classes and races. To drum up support for Biden, however, Biden’s camp needs to drum up social media activists, as this is the key market for generating connectivity[footnoteRef:2]—which is exactly what is required for building enthusiasm over the long haul. This paper will describe the key media markets for the Biden campaign and how free and paid media strategies can be used to help Biden in specific parts of the country at specific times of the year to get through the primaries and ultimately to face off against the President. [2: Enli, Gunn, and Chris-Adrian Simonsen. "‘Social media logic’meets professional norms: Twitter hashtags usage by journalists and politicians." Information, Communication & Society 21, no. 8 (2018): 1081-1096.]
Key Media Markets
Social Media
As the election of Donald Trump in 2016 showed, when it comes to mobilizing voters, social media is the place to be. Since the election, social media has received a great deal of focus from pundits and even Congress as concerned parties try to figure out whether unfair use of social media led to negative images of Clinton being projected onto the public consciousness.[footnoteRef:3] Whether there was collusion or not is beside the point: social media matters and the next president, whoever it is, will win or lose based on his or her ability to cultivate public opinion via social media.[footnoteRef:4] 14% of adults cite social media as their most important source for election-related news.[footnoteRef:5] However, 65% of adults are active users of social media[footnoteRef:6]—which means whether they think their political views are being shaped by what they see and read and hear on social media or not, the fact is that they are. People who consume old media are not anymore conscious of their beliefs and views being affected by something they casually read—but the same pattern holds true, just as it does in advertising. Bernays showed the power that marketing has on the consumer,[footnoteRef:7] and this is the mindset to have when considering how to market a politician to the voting public: the best venues with the highest opportunities for marketing are the places where the most people will be. Just as Super Bowl spots sell for millions to advertisers, social media, where two-thirds of the American public are focusing their attention today, must command the attention of politicians. This is where Joe Biden’s campaign has to hit the ground running to be effective in the primaries and beyond. [3: Enli, Gunn. "Twitter as arena for the authentic outsider: exploring the social media campaigns of Trump and Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election." European Journal of Communication 32, no. 1 (2017): 50-61.] [4: Youmans, William Lafi, and Jillian C. York. "Social media and the activist toolkit: User agreements, corporate interests, and the information infrastructure of modern social movements." Journal of Communication 62, no. 2 (2012): 315-329.] [5: Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. "Social media and fake news in the 2016 election." Journal of Economic Perspectives31, no. 2 (2017): 211-36.] [6: Perrin, Andrew. "Social media usage." Pew research center(2015): 52-68.] [7: Conrad, JoAnn. "Consuming Subjects: Making Sense of Post–World War II Westerns." Narrative Culture 2, no. 1 (2015): 71-116.]
To use social media effectively requires constant engagement, and that means having an organized team to facilitate promote and get out the message via social media is essential. These teams can use Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, SnapChat, and others to spread information, news, photos, videos and positive messages to drum up support for Biden. They can also be used to leverage quick jabs at Biden’s opponents in the primaries with a view to leveraging attacks on the President in the general. Free social media coverage through user generated content supplied by grassroots campaign supporters will be instrumental in spreading the message of the Biden campaign, but paid social media marketers should also be used to make sure the messages gaining traction are positive and are conveying the right image to attract Millennials and women voters ahead of the primaries.
Television
TV spots are important for reaching that segment of the population that has not cut the cord. TV spots are particularly important for places where viewers have no control over the cord—i.e., in public places, such as restaurants, bars, airports, arenas and so on. TVs are not just appliances of the home and are more effective as tools of propaganda. TV spots should not be directed to the choir but rather to fence-sitters—individuals who have not yet made up their mind about how they will vote. For that reason, TV spots should say as much with images as they do with words (most people will not hear the words in public places anyway—but the images will stick with them).[footnoteRef:8] TV will work mostly with Baby Boomers, but since they are not the key critical target market (though their support will be needed for the primaries), the TV spot should focus on stitching together images and video of Biden as the American leader Millennials have been wanting since Trump took office. [8: Ibid 80.]
Print
Print media including signs, posters, and pamphlets should be made available to campaign support at the grassroots level to assist in the get out the vote early drive. Signs must feature the Biden name with positive colors and warm tones to contrast with the bold, bombastic and sharp connotations of the Trump brand and campaign. Biden has to focus all aspects of the campaign on the final goal—the general with Trump. This will distinguish him among primary contenders who will be looking to square off versus one another. Biden will show maturity and statesmanship to enter into the primary election with no other focus than on defeating Donald Trump, paying minimal attention to his contenders, almost as though they did not exist. By exuding an air of confidence and minimizing any negative attacks aimed at members of his own party, Biden will be seen as a unifier—and print media should focus on this aspect of Biden’s character: the unifier, who has experience in the Oval Office and understands the demands of the job. That will be the aspect of the message that print media will highlight.
For the Primaries
Key demographics in the primaries are young voters: these are going to young Millennials—first time voters who are horrified by the opposition (Trump) and are pro-activated to get behind a candidate they can believe in (Biden). Since 90% of young people (ages 18-25) used social media,[footnoteRef:9] social media has to be the number one place to promote Biden’s message and frame him as the one who can beat Trump. The primaries have to be framed in this way—who can beat Trump? This is how Trump framed his contest in the primaries—who can beat Hillary? It worked for him and his base utilized social media and studied social media usage to gauge a more accurate picture of who would vote than traditional polling did.[footnoteRef:10] [9: Perrin, Andrew. "Social media usage." Pew research center (2015), 55.] [10: Anstead, Nick. "Data and Election Campaigning." Political Insight 9, no. 2 (2018): 32-35.]
The key markets to appeal to in the primaries therefore are the 18-25 crowd via social media: they have to see why Biden is the best chance to defeat Trump, why he embodies the values and virtues the young, first time voter wants to see in their candidate. While Baby Boomers have tended to be the largest voting bloc in the U.S., the Millennials are poised to take that distinction in 2020. They are the ones who are most activated to get involved in a grassroots way, and they are the biggest users of social media. Biden has to be marketed to this demographic as it will be this demographic that sways the election in the general. If the Millennials are united with the core Baby Boomer Democrats in supporting Biden through the primaries and into the general, Trump will be a one-term president. If the Millennials throw their support to a third party candidate or to another Democrat, the party will be divided and lack the cohesion to effectively challenge the sitting president. Biden’s chances of getting through the primaries are substantially lower if he does not secure the support of the Millennials. That is why social media is the key media market. 90% of Millennials are using social media—and it is with them that the message has to be delivered most. The core Democratic base of Baby Boomers will support whoever the party selects as its representative, and many of them are already willing to support a veteran like Biden, as the rest of the candidates are unlikely to possess the affable qualities that appeal to the Everyman in the same way Trump’s populism appealed to Everyman in 2016. Therefore, Baby Boomers are a secondary concern in terms of demographics. The key target is the Millennial generation. They are too young to have experienced directly the impact of the Obama presidency, and thus they will need to be reminded why Biden has what it takes to be presidential.
Another key will be women voters in the primaries, and 68% of women are active social media users.[footnoteRef:11] With the #MeToo movement now firmly underway and women feeling more united than ever, their vote will be a crucial bloc to obtain. Social media campaigns should concentrate on motivating women to get behind Biden as a man who will safeguard the rights of women and appoint judges who will do the same. Women should be targeted by creating memes of Trump as a predator and sexist, alongside memes of Biden as a supporter of women’s rights. [11: Perrin, Andrew. "Social media usage." Pew research center (2015), 55.]
Beginning in February with Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina, followed by Super Tuesday in which hundreds of delegates will be up for grabs among numerous states, the timeframe will be short: Biden has to execute in these early races to be seen as a viable candidate—and Millennials and women have to feel that they are the ones making the choices.
Field Strategy
Thus, the field strategy is to hit college campuses hard starting in November and December of 2019 to start getting Millennials and first-time voters enthusiastic about casting a vote for Biden in the primaries and uniting behind the best Democratic candidate with a chance of defeating Trump in the general. Biden is older but his experience and his compassion towards others will be the key characteristics that will be used to sway Millennials. They tried to rally around Bernie—the socialist candidate—in 2016, but failed. That should be used as reason why they should now be practical and rally behind Biden. Biden may not be perfect—but they don’t need perfection to beat Trump, and that should be the rallying cry. The aim is not to select the candidate the best exemplifies their values but rather to select the candidate who can be most likely to stop Trump—and that is Biden, because he is more presidential in bearing, demeanor and experience; he is compassionate; and he supports women’s rights.
Polling should also be conducted on college campuses in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina in the months leading up to February to determine how things stand and whether more focus is needed in any one state more than another. This can show what students are thinking, whether they are motivated, and what needs to be done to motivate them further. Polling also needs to focus, however, on social media; just as the Trump campaign used Cambridge Analytica to analyze social media data to identify a path to victory,[footnoteRef:12] the Biden campaign has to have a finger on the pulse of social media users to really and truly understand what the majority of voters are thinking, feeling, and planning to do come election time. [12: Anstead, Nick. "Data and Election Campaigning." Political Insight 9, no. 2 (2018): 32-35.]
Conclusion
In conclusion, the free and paid marketing strategy should include a get out the vote plan that aggressively tackles college campuses and uses social media to message the Millennial first time voter as this base will the base needed to assist the Baby Boomer vote in supporting a candidate who can take on Trump in the general. Social media should receive the bulk of the focus as this is where 90% of Millennials are in terms of using media, and so this is where the message has to be delivered. Biden’s message should be based on the characteristics he poses that make him look most favorable when compared to Trump and to the other primary contenders who are sure to lack his experience, statesmanship and compassion.
Bibliography
Allcott, Hunt, and Matthew Gentzkow. "Social media and fake news in the 2016
election." Journal of Economic Perspectives31, no. 2 (2017): 211-36.
Anstead, Nick. "Data and Election Campaigning." Political Insight 9, no. 2 (2018): 32-
35.
Conrad, JoAnn. "Consuming Subjects: Making Sense of Post–World War II Westerns." 
Narrative Culture 2, no. 1 (2015): 71-116.
Enli, Gunn. "Twitter as arena for the authentic outsider: exploring the social media
campaigns of Trump and Clinton in the 2016 US presidential election." European Journal of Communication 32, no. 1 (2017): 50-61.
Enli, Gunn, and Chris-Adrian Simonsen. "‘Social media logic’meets professional norms:
Twitter hashtags usage by journalists and politicians." Information, Communication & Society 21, no. 8 (2018): 1081-1096.
Perrin, Andrew. "Social media usage." Pew research center(2015): 52-68.
Youmans, William Lafi, and Jillian C. York. "Social media and the activist toolkit: User
agreements, corporate interests, and the information infrastructure of modern social movements." Journal of Communication 62, no. 2 (2012): 315-329.