An Unexpected Struggle for Trump: Defining an Elusive Biden

President Donald Trump won the White House in no small part by seizing on Hillary Clinton’s missteps and using them to turn many voters against her. But after three unsteady months, and with the Republican convention six weeks away, Trump is struggling to define Joe Biden to similarly devastating effect, a critical task at this stage of a presidential race.

“It is going to be more difficult for the Trump campaign to go after a man who really is a centrist, has dealings with people across the aisle and knows how to talk to people who disagree with him,” said Priscilla Southwell, a professor emerita of political science at the University of Oregon. “And 2020 is a different kind of year. Donald Trump can appeal to his core by being negative, but it’s such a difficult time for everybody. I don’t think negativity is going to sell as well as it used to.

Trump does have some avenues to use against Biden before voter attitudes begin to harden. He has sought to tie Biden to the political unrest that has swept the country since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25 by the police. And Trump has tried to portray his opponent as senile, “sleepy,” corrupt and an ally of China, but none of those lines of attack has resonated with the public, at least up to now.

But now, as Trump prepares to go to New Hampshire on Saturday for his latest campaign rally, time is running short. But to the frustration of Republicans, his attempts to define Biden have seemed fitful. He barely mentioned Biden during two of his campaign’s highest-profile moments in months: his speech in front of Mount Rushmore last week, followed by his July 4 address from the White House South Lawn.

“The truth is people have heard him mocking and demonizing for four years now,” said Mark Mellman, a Democratic pollster. “They are somewhat inured to it, they are sick and tired of it. And by being home, Biden has given him less to shoot at.”

'Biden isn't doing anything' is the short version of this article

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