How President Biden Can Fight His Way Back | Opinion

President Joe Biden and his campaign have been flat-footed dealing with the debate fallout. While he did give an incredibly energetic speech in North Carolina the day after the debate, he didn't shut the door on leaving as forcefully as he should. That was all the opening needed for speculation to continue to grow about whether he was or wasn't going to leave the race eventually.

Nearly a week later, he finally got more blunt on a private call with campaign staff, saying, "Let me say this as clearly as I possibly can—as simply and straightforward as I can: I am running ... no one's pushing me out. I'm not leaving. I'm in this race to the end, and we're going to win."

Undoing the president's initial response is proving to be a challenging task.

Speculation is at a fever pitch inside the Beltway, even as polling shows no dramatic effect on the head-to-head matchup between former President Donald Trump and Biden. Some folks are trying to will their hopes of a new nominee into existence, and it will take much bolder, more robust action from Biden to tamp that all down and get back to the job of defeating Donald Trump.

This is the five-point plan to do so if the president truly is not going to pass the torch to Vice President Kamala Harris:

Show Life and Vigor Beyond Speeches: This one is hard because the president has slowed physically. It's been said before that Franklin Delano Roosevelt did his job from a wheelchair. Biden being stiff has nothing to do with his ability to be president. But it does have everything to do with perceptions, especially after the debate. Still, there are ways to show vitality while also highlighting his success. Head out to a recently completed road or bridge project completed because of the infrastructure law. Hop in the Corvette, rev it up loud, and drive it across with key partners driving across, too. Get as many union workers who completed the project as possible there, too. Slap some backs, shake some hands. Bring Blue Collar Joe out. These images are worth more than a thousand words.

Get to Church: For the number of times that black Americans have bailed out the Democratic party and not been repaid nearly enough, I feel guilty even suggesting this. But the fact of the matter is that the backbone of the Democratic party is black America, and we need a hell of a lot of backbone right now. Biden needs to get out there and personally reconnect with the black community. He is now suffering an enthusiasm gap that he cannot afford, and it is time to build it back up, starting with the party's foundation. He should not just show up with a hat in his hand, looking to be saved. He can't just give a speech but must engage the community in a real conversation and take their critiques to heart.

Utilize Vice President Harris More... Much More: The vice president has been woefully underused during his presidency and his campaign. She's an incredible communicator. Unfortunately, he also has been negatively defined by right-wing attacks. Trump's campaign is using ads to scare people into believing that if they vote for Biden, they're going to get Harris. The best way to diffuse those attacks is to help bolster her image and confidence in her. They must turn the answer into "So what?" when the point is raised that she might be president by 2028 if President Biden is reelected. Meanwhile, using her more aggressively to back Biden's candidacy will help put to bed the notion that he's dropping out and handing things off to her.

Show Defiance: His statement to campaign staff was defiant, as opposed to his speech in North Carolina after the debate, which came off more as, "Trust me, I'm okay." People who fall into three key constituencies are the ones pushing him to drop out: wealthy donors, the media, and some politicians of his own party (both on the record and anonymously). Guess who aren't the most popular folks in America? Rich people, the media, and politicians. No, the president doesn't need to go the extremes Trump does (i.e., "Enemy of the people"), which is reckless and dangerous. But he can and should "welcome their hatred," as the aforementioned FDR once said.

Imagine him saying, "There are a lot of wealthy folks who want me to leave this campaign. The media is spinning fantasies about great ratings if I do. And heaven knows politicians in D.C. want to punch their ticket to the White House and I'm in their way. To all of them, I say this: Hell no! I took this job to deliver for the American people. I've delivered jobs, an economy back on track, rising wages, a nation no longer crippled by a pandemic, new roads and bridges that needed repair, and a global alliance against fascism and dictatorship. I still have more to do, and billionaires, media, and politicians be damned, I'm going to do it and I'm going to continue to do it when I'm sworn in again next year. Now let's get back to work."

Ditch the Talking Points: I wrote about this after the debate. The president is just far too overloaded with notes and talking points. Yes, I get the worry about him sticking his foot in his mouth, as he has done since he was a younger man. But Joe Biden isn't someone you can or should tightly script. It's not in his DNA. It's not how he became a successful politician. He is and always has been the most effective when he says what he feels in the way he feels it. He may miss some points that staff feel are key to make, but the delivery will be much better and much more natural. And right now, what he says isn't as important as how he says it.

The past week has been critical to the president, and his slow response to the debate debacle did him no favors. The good news is that most polling, save a couple, shows he hasn't lost that much ground in the election. While his numbers are still losing, they're close enough to be reversed and for him to take the lead.

But it will take bold thinking, trust in his instincts, and some embrace of dramatics. He and his staff need to become comfortable with all of that quickly. The country and its future are on the line.

Eric Schmeltzer is a Los Angeles-based political consultant who served as press secretary to Rep. Jerry Nadler and former-Gov. Howard Dean.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.