Joe Biden in 2020 AdWatch

On Principles & Values: 1972 campaign brochures included photos with incumbents

Joe's [1972 campaign produced] a series of brochures, and even though his campaign ran on fumes, the literature was slick. "Joe Biden is making an impact on the U.S. Senate and he hasn't even been elected yet," said the front page of one brochure, and then inside, it showed photos of Biden next to veteran senators like Scoop Jackson and Hubert Humphrey, with a goal of boosting his gravitas. It worked. "The printed material became kind of a revolution for political print, and was duplicated afterwards," says one pundit. In 2015, lifelong pundit Chris Matthews remembered these brochures as something that he had "never seen-before or since... He looked like he belonged there [in the Senate]; in fact, like he was already there."

[Val, Biden's sister and campaign manager, created] the "Biden post office," a base of THOUSANDS of freckled teenagers who would hand-deliver these brochures across Delaware.

Source: AdWatch 2020: The Book of Joe, by Jeff Wilser, p 40-1 Oct 24, 2017

On Principles & Values: 1972 campaign ad: "Do you trust me?"

Biden had an idea for a radio ad that was...unconventional. In the ad, Biden approached random people at a grocery store and said, basically, "My name is Joe Biden. I'm the Democratic candidate for the US Senate. Do you trust me?"

The shoppers would say, "No, why should I trust you?"

He flipped the message to say, "That's what's wrong with America right now. I promise you if you elect me, you'll know exactly where I stand. You'll be able to trust me." The ad was as shoestring as it gets.

Source: AdWatch 2020: The Book of Joe, by Jeff Wilser, p 40-1 Oct 24, 2017

On Principles & Values: AdWatch: World laughs at Trump for dangerous incompetence

[Biden campaign video showing Trump at NATO summit in London]:

Narrator 1: "World leaders caught on camera laughing about Pres. Trump"

Narrator 2: "Several world leaders mocking Pres. Trump"

Narrator 3: "They're laughing at him"

Pres. Trump [speaking at the United Nations in Sept. 2018]: "My administration has accomplished more than almost any other administration in the history of our country"

[Audience laughs]

President Trump: "Didn't expect that reaction, but that's OK."

Narrator 4: "World leaders mocking and ridiculing him for being completely off-balance."

Joe Biden: "The world sees Trump for what he is--insincere, ill-informed, corrupt, dangerously incompetent, and incapable, in my view, of world leadership. And if we give Donald Trump four more years, we'll have a great deal of difficulty of ever being able to recover America's standing in the world, and our capacity to bring nations together."

Video text: "We need a leader the world respects. Biden for President."

Source: Twitter posting AdWatch on 2020 Democratic primary Dec 4, 2019

The above quotations are from AdWatch: transcripts from 2020 candidates. Click here for other excerpts from AdWatch: transcripts from 2020 candidates. Click here for other excerpts by Joe Biden. Click here for a profile of Joe Biden.
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Page last updated: Dec 17, 2023