When Americans know a prominent political figure is about to launch a bid for the presidency, we often wait with bated breath on the big speech, campaign video, or otherwise flashy introduction. However, all of that seems to be changing in the Trump era.
Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images
Right now, there is a crowded Democratic field full of candidates with very similar policy positions and the exact same goal: Get Donald Trump out of the White House. To that end, the flashy launches seem like they may be a thing of the past.
Former Vice President and two-time seeker of the Presidency, Joe Biden, launched his campaign on Thursday, and his rollout was anything but flashy. Uncle Joe, as he is often affectionately called, was seen sitting quietly on a train alone with just a few aids right after his launch. There were no aides, no speeches, and no videos to introduce him. It makes perfect sense; after all, for better or for worse, the nation already knows who Joe Biden is. Here is the photo of his train ride:
It’s an illustration of how political campaigns in America have changed that a few hours after launching his Presidential campaign online, Joe Biden is not at a huge launch party but sitting quietly on a train to New York with just a handful of aides pic.twitter.com/yMHFWsKoA3
Biden was then seen in a video getting on a train en route to Wilmington, Delaware. Just a few years ago, these optics would have hardly been seen as a presidential campaign roll out at all. People would have wondered what Biden was doing, and if he was seriously seeking the White House or just throwing his hat into the ring just to see what would happen. Here is the video:
So perhaps not surprisingly newly announced Presidential candidate Joe Biden was taking the train to Wilmington, Delaware. pic.twitter.com/BdaUjLJwt1
The effect of Joe Biden’s low key presidential launch remains to be seen, for now, it is just another blip on the radar in a very crowded Democratic primary field of candidates.
Shannon Barber is a progressive queer feminist and budding political scientist. She is passionate about issues of social justice, including but not limited to racial equality, criminal justice reform, pro-Black politics, and LGBTQ equality. She hopes to change the world, one mind at a time.
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