Biden Strength Perception Shift

A story about how Biden's campaign discovered they were mishandling concerns about his age and fitness through focus group research.

"What came back from the focus groups was that their approach was all wrong. Voters were not worried about Biden's physical well-being or whether he'd get his steps in at the White House. They saw him as a fundamentally weak political figure.

The campaign had been setting up photo ops of him bicycling and jogging up stairs to his plane, but voters were saying 'I kind of like the guy but I don't really know what he cares about or what he wants to do or who he's going to listen to.'

So they pivoted their strategy. Instead of showing physical fitness, they started buying ads in places where persuadable voters would see them - even on Fox News and Breitbart. They bought search terms related to Biden's age. The most successful ad they tested was simply 15 seconds of Biden speaking directly to camera, saying 'I grew up in Scranton and I have middle class values, that's why I want to cut taxes on middle class people and raise them on the rich.'

The research showed these voters just wanted to hear him in his own voice stating what he cared about. They were suspicious of glossy, heavily edited political ads. They wanted something that looked unedited - just Biden clearly articulating his basic worldview."