Dr. Walter C. Farrell, Jr., PhD, M.S.P.H.

Biden must outline a detailed agenda of his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the future of public education in the aftermath of and/or in concert with the coronavirus, and the revamping of police training and transparency in law enforcement’s interactions with communities of color.

Many Biden supporters believe that he can continue floating above the political fray and proceed to victory unencumbered by the politics on the ground. This kind of thinking is what sank Hillary’s 2016 campaign,

the Biden campaign has yet to invest in a comprehensive strategy to counter voter suppression, enhance black and other minority voter turnout, monitor the increasing manipulation of the absentee/mail-in ballot process, and plan for preventing the election from being contested and ultimately decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. In the latter case, Trump will win as George W. Bush did in 2000.

this race will not be determined by who leads in the polls but on whether he or Trump can get their supporters out to vote.

Biden needs to lean into the national African American community, particularly its millennials, who have been reluctant to come out in large numbers during a presidential election since the Obama campaigns.

Many believe Trump is committing political hari-kari (ritual suicide) via his racist rants, militaristic threats, and inability and/or refusal to console the nation during this era of pandemic and racial crises. Biden is riding a wave of positive polls and TV coverage, which is leading him and his advisors to be confident that he is on the cusp of victory. He is not!

Rev. Al Sharpton, Tiffany Cross, TV political pundits, and other younger African American activists were critical of Biden’s statement. They all called more forcefully for him to add a black female to his presidential ticket in the aftermath of this political debacle. It is now much more likely that he will do so as he tries to hold on to black support.

The Democrats again appear fixated on competency and the wrongheaded belief that the public is fed up with Trump’s boorish and dictatorial behavior, the same naïve view that led Hillary to defeat in 2016. They again refuse to believe that Trump is a formidable rival, and that he will do anything to prevail.

Trump has unified and galvanized Republicans using xenophobic hysteria and their fear of being defeated in their bids for election and/or reelection.