Only a Broken Media Would Declare Biden’s Warning of Failing Democracy ‘A Losing Message’

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President Joe Biden delivered a 20-minute speech Wednesday evening that warned Americans about serious threats to democracy. He cited recent examples of political violence — most notably the attack on the Pelosi family — as well as the grave rise in election denialism.

Those threats are real, and urgently important as we approach the first election since Donald Trump sought to overturn the last one.

But many in the chattering class, and nattering nabobs of negativism, couldn’t help but ignore the substance of Biden’s speech to instead criticize the message as a losing one politically.

Those criticisms miss the point: As I said on Leland Vittert’s On Balance Wednesday night, the speech was far less political than it could have been. Biden focused mostly on polity and civic duty as election day nears. You can watch that video below:

There is no question that every comment that comes out of the mouth of an elected official or politician is, by its very nature, political. But we often adjudge the value of that rhetoric on scales of effectiveness (in terms of an opaque scale of resonances) and responsibility. And more importantly, the distinction between political and partisan commentary is often ignored.

It’s not worth it to list the many examples of how Biden’s speech didn’t resonate. One can turn to his “Ultra-MAGA” speech of early September when Democrats went all in on the “threat to democracy” messaging. And how did that work out?  FiveThirtyEight gave Democrats around an 80% chance of keeping the senate at that time.

Two months later — and a return to higher gas prices later — the same prediction gives Republicans a slight edge to take over the Senate.

In short, the “threat to democracy” messaging Democrats have eagerly embraced does not seem to have resonated with voters who seem far more concerned about rising inflation and the cost of living.

A recently published New York Times/Sienna poll reveals that while many voters acknowledge there is a threat to democracy, its not a primary concern when it comes to their vote. The Washington Post’s Aaron Blake made a similar argument about how the Democrats have failed in this messaging.

It’s the economy, stupid.

But Biden’s message was not about inflation. It was not about abortion rights. It was not kitchen table issues that political strategists love to mention. It was entirely focused on election denialism and the rise in threats and political violence.

He did mention Donald Trump, though not by name. He did so because the former president continues to lead a faction of the Republican Party that enthusiastically pushes the fantasy that the 2020 election was stolen — a fantasy that, two years later, still has zero evidence to support it. And  it is worth noting that yes,  Trump is still, the leader of the Republican Party, and many candidates have preemptively refused to accept election results due to the doubt and uncertainty sowed by Trump and many conservative media types.

Critics have sought to turn Biden’s warning into an attack on Republican voters — the biggest no-no in politics — but it remains the case that no Democratic candidates are attacking the integrity of elections. Yes, the attacks from Stacy Abrams on her 2018 election are noteworthy, but she acknowledged Brian Kemp won the race. Hillary Clinton conceded the 2016 general election she lost to Trump.

Both examples pale in comparison to the toxic wave of election denialism that has washed over the Republican Party in the last two years.

Watching an aged Biden speak publicly can be a challenge. And I will admit to watching his speech last night thinking entirely in a political context. But after a slow start and harrowing recount of the Pelosi attack, I was struck by the patriotic and apolitical tone of the speech.  Biden sought to give the nation a halftime peptalk, like the country is down a couple of touchdowns and needs to get its shit together.

It’s a sleight of hand you see regularly on Fox News. Pundits ignore the substance of a speech to instead ask “is this a winning message?” That kind of empty horse-race analysis obscures whether the message is important, instead obsessing over whether it works in a political campaign. Often, the implicit message from the pundits is that the message is a losing one. That is, because we the pundits are telling you it’s a losing one.

I was also struck by his restraint in making overt political points. He clearly sees it as the cause or mission of his administration to restore civility in this nation and remove discord. Unfortunately, in the current political media ecosystem that rewards division and extremism, the size of the mountain is too great for him to push up this boulder of unity without help from his political foes.

It may be the case that the message can’t be delivered. It’s not just that people don’t want to hear it, no matter how he says it, no matter how anyone says it or puts it, if you are talking about good versus evil the political media — which is all media — will assign the roles of good and evil to parties or individuals. A political media ecosystem solely dedicated to “good guys vs bad guys” will immediately and only assign a party to those words, as you did just now reading them.

Which is why it’s broken and sowing division.

In short, Biden reiterated a message that hasn’t moved voters for months. but did so because he he believes it serves a much greater good and is important to the nation’s soul.

Did he sacrifice his party’s future for the GOP’s sins? Or resurrect their chances?

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.