Sanders And Kasich Offer Progressives, Republicans Divergent Visions Of A Biden Administration

TOPLINE

The first night of the Democratic Convention was heavy on soul, but two speakers homed in on policy and ideology while pitching former Vice President Joe Biden to non-Democrats and ultimately painted contradictory pictures of what his policy agenda would be as president.

KEY FACTS

Chief Critic

The Trump campaign chose to adopt Sanders’ vision of Biden in their attacks. “Democrats can try to conceal the dangerous truth with a Hollywood produced infomercial, but they can’t hide the fact that the radical socialist leftist takeover of Joe Biden is complete,” Trump campaign national press secretary Hogan Gidley said in a statement.

Big Number

2.8. The voters seem to agree with Sanders’ perspective as well. A Morning Consult poll in July found that voters’ views of Biden’s ideology shifted considerably to the left since March, before Sanders dropped out and began working with Biden to create a unity platform. Voters polled rated Biden’s ideology as a 2.8 on a scale of 1 to 7 (1 being the most liberal and 7 being the most conservative), down from 3.2 in March. However, subsequent Trump attacks plastering Biden as a “radical leftist” have apparently failed to shift public perceptions; a Morning Consult poll in August found voters’ view of Biden’s ideology completely unchanged since the month prior.

What To Watch For

With the portion of the convention focused on “uniting” Americans concluded, subsequent nights are slated to focus on restoring leadership and recovering from the pandemic. The theme of Tuesday is “leadership matters” and will feature Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State John Kerry. Wednesday’s theme is “A More Perfect Union,” with speeches from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama. Finally on Thursday, billed as “America’s Promise,” Biden will accept the nomination following speeches from his family and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).