In 1984, Ronald Reagan’s reelection campaign ran a series of ads that evoked how different life felt in America compared to under his opponent’s administration four years prior. Today, Joe Biden should do the same.
Joe Biden is the first incumbent president to face off against a member of the previous presidential administration since 1984, when President Ronald Reagan beat former Vice President Walter Mondale in a landslide.
While there are plenty of differences between today and 40 years ago, there are important similarities—chiefly, an economy that’s much better than the one four years prior. That’s why earlier this month, I argued that Biden’s marketing team should emulate Reagan’s famously optimistic television ad campaign known as “Morning in America.”
But Reagan’s communications strategy was not all positive. His ad makers also took direct aim at the record of his predecessor. The political logic was straightforward. Reagan won in 1980 with the argument that people were not better off after four years of Jimmy Carter and Mondale. As his own four years were not without problems, he had to make sure his record would be judged in comparison to the worst possible characterization of his predecessor.
Biden has the same challenge today. His media team should draw inspiration from Reagan’s negative spots, and craft a parallel “Nightmare in America” narrative of Donald Trump’s time in office.
“Morning in America” featured a gentle, nameless narrator and soft piano music over heartwarming scenes of American family and work life. “Inflation” used similar music, but had Reagan himself narrating over scenes of an idled economy.
“This was America in 1980: a nation that wasn’t working,” Reagan reminded viewers. “Huge government spending gave us the worst inflation in 65 years. Interest rates were at an all-time high. The elderly were being priced out of their homes, and people were losing faith in the America dream.”
Reagan then pivots, crediting a collective effort of the American people for the turnaround: “We rolled up our sleeves and showed that working together, there’s nothing we Americans can’t do. Today, the inflation is down, interest rates are down. We’ve created six and half million new jobs. Americans are working again, and so is America.” As Reagan seeks to soothe his audience, images of a happy America similar to what’s in the “Morning in America” spot grace the screen.
Another ad, “Foreign Policy,” begins with the jarring image of a burning America flag, following by chanting Iranian protestors, invoking the hostage crisis that bedeviled Jimmy Carter for months. “This was America in 1980: held in contempt by foreign nations. Across the world, people were losing their freedoms. So many countries thought America had seen its day. But we knew better. So we stopped complaining together, and starting working together. Today, America is strong again.”
If Biden were to do an ad that began with him saying, “This was America in 2020,” what would come next? Your first thought might be: the Covid-19 pandemic. But while footage of Trump suggesting we inject ourselves with bleach would be a useful reminder of the insanity of his response, centering the pandemic risks a painful relitigating of the value of lockdowns and masks. That’s not the turf on which Biden wants to battle.
What else happened in 2020 that was disruptive? Widespread riots.
