The Observer view on Joe Biden's lacklustre presidential campaign

Joe Biden strikes most people as a decent guy. That fact alone could go a long way towards getting him elected US president in November. Avuncular, good-hearted, reassuring, empathic are adjectives commonly applied to his low-key, low-visibility candidacy. This image contrasts starkly with public perceptions of rowdy, vulgar Donald Trump. Not being Trump may suffice for many voters.

Yet Biden, former vice-president to Barack Obama, would be unwise to pin all his hopes on the “character issue”. After winning the Democratic nomination, Biden talked about “restoring America’s soul”. Hovering above the fray, he stressed the need to bring people together and end America’s polarisation. All well and good. But he is going to have to get down and dirty soon.

Trump is building up division and hate, especially over race. Friday’s inflammatory Mount Rushmore speech decrying “far-left fascism”, and his re-tweeting of a “white power” video, showed just how he low will go. It’s not unusual for a politician to wrap himself in the flag. In Trump’s case, the question is: which flag? Old Glory or the battle flag of the Confederacy?

Coronavirus distancing, and conscious choices, account for Biden’s low profile so far. But he cannot continue to ignore the president’s smears and insults as the fight hots up. Undecided voters in key battleground states in the midwest, Florida and Texas will expect a strong personal and policy response to Trump’s provocations. Decency is not enough.

Does Biden, who will be 78 in November and sometimes seems to feel his age, have what it takes? There was a glimpse of steel during a recent appearance in Pennsylvania when he lambasted Trump’s Covid-19 debacle. “He’s like a child who just can’t believe this happened to him,” Biden said. “It’s all whining and self-pity. This pandemic didn’t happen to him. It happened to all of us.”

That’s better. More of the same is required, especially in the autumn’s one-on-one televised debates. Meanwhile, Biden must also push harder on policy. Contrary to the widespread impression of a moderate, centrist candidate simply hoping to restore sound governance, Biden’s platform contains some refreshingly progressive ideas. They deserve a wider airing.

On healthcare provision, for example, the Republicans are still trying to eliminate Obama’s Affordable Care Act. Biden wants to keep it and add a “public option”, enabling people to insure themselves via a government-run scheme. On the climate crisis, he wants the US to commit to net-zero emissions by 2050. He would rejoin and reboot the Paris climate agreement that Trump abandoned.

Yet on a key issue of the day – racial inequality and the Black Lives Matter protests – Biden is under attack from the left for being too cautious. He backs increased accountability, but has flatly rejected calls to defund the police. It’s a reminder that reuniting the Democrats could be as hard as reuniting the country.

No presidential election was ever won by ignoring the centre ground, and Biden, in public office since his 20s, knows that better than most. So far, polls suggest his stealth strategy has served him well with the mostly white, middle-class, suburban voters he needs to win. Nationally, he leads Trump by about 9%.

Anything could happen. Some pundits suggest a Biden landslide, others that Trump will stage a comeback, as he did against Hillary Clinton in 2016. Enormous amounts of money are being raised. Both sides are already crying foul over postal voting, foreign meddling and fake news. It is likely to get extremely nasty, with a real risk of violence on the fringes.

Yet Biden may have an ace up his sleeve: his choice of a vice-presidential running mate. Many are urging him to pick a woman of colour, such as Kamala Harris of California. As this contest between two elderly white men inevitably tightens, a fresher, younger, more representative face on the ticket could make the difference.