Where's Joe? Biden taking it slow in early campaign days

May 28, 2019

His participation in a teachers' union town hall Tuesday in Houston, Texas will be his first public campaign event in 10 days.

 
While Democratic presidential hopefuls barnstorm through early voting states, 2020 party nomination frontrunner Joe Biden is working at a different pace altogether, rolling out his campaign in limited stages and to moderate numbers of voters.
 
When he does hit the trail, Biden routinely promises that "no one is going to work longer and campaign harder" to win voter trust and support in the run-up to the 2020 face off with President Donald Trump.
 
But since officially launching his White House bid in April the former vice president has held only around a dozen campaign stops, and his team has routinely offered a daily update to reporters: "Joe Biden has no public events scheduled."
 
His participation in a teachers' union town hall Tuesday in Houston, Texas will be his first public campaign event in 10 days.
 
During that period, Senator Cory Booker has crisscrossed Iowa in an RV camper; Bernie Sanders, number two in the Democratic polls, has campaigned in four states; and Senator Elizabeth Warren has held no less than eight events, including four on Sunday.
 
After his campaign kickoff rally May 18 in Philadelphia, the 76-year-old Biden has largely kept his head down, attending fundraisers in Florida and Tennessee. Another fundraiser is set for Tuesday, after his town hall.
 
Advisors have argued that because of his near-universal name recognition, and popularity within Democratic circles, Biden does not need to relentlessly introduce himself to voters, as several other candidates are doing.
 
His commanding lead in early polling also signals that media attention will follow him wherever and whenever he hits the campaign trail.
 
Biden senior advisor Symone Sanders said at the Philadelphia rally that the candidate will soon ramp up his campaigning.
 
"He knows that folks have questions about his stamina, his ability to go long days, long nights," she said. "What he'll tell you is 'just watch, just wait and see.'"
 
While Biden has eased into the race, Trump has not hesitated to attack him. On Sunday the president went after Biden's legislative record, including his support for a measure seen as having led to increased incarceration of African Americans.
 
"Anyone associated with the 1994 Crime Bill will not have a chance of being elected," Trump tweeted.
 

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