The Biden
Formation Story
David Brooks
SEPT. 15, 2015
Last month I
wrote that Joe Biden should not run for president this year. The electorate is
in an anti-establishment mood, and as a longtime insider, Biden, I argued,
would suffer from the same disadvantages Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are now
enduring, without any of their advantages. It would end badly.
But then came
Biden’s moment with Stephen Colbert. His discussion of his own grief over his
son Beau’s death was beautiful and genuine and revealed the golden heart that
everybody knows is at the core of the man.
Biden talked
about Beau. “My son was better than me. And he was better than me in almost
every way.” He gestured toward how fluid grief is, how it goes round and round,
hides for a few hours and then suddenly overwhelms. But there was something
else embedded in that Colbert moment: a formation story.
Every
presidential candidate needs a narrative to explain how his or her character
was formed. They need a story line that begins outside of politics with some
experience or life-defining crucible moment that then defines the nature of
their public service.
Candidates like
John F. Kennedy and John McCain were formed by war. Candidates like Bill
Clinton and Barack Obama were formed by their rise from broken homes and their
dedication to lift others and heal divisions. Without a clear formation story,
a candidate is just a hodgepodge of positions and logos.
Democrats this
year are looking for a formation story that proves commitment. This is a party
that is moving boldly leftward. Its voters want to know their candidate has the
inner drive to push through structural changes, not just half measures.
Bernie Sanders
has such a story. From his days at the University of Chicago onward, he has
been a pile driver for progressive causes, regardless of the prevailing winds.
Hillary Clinton hasn’t yet presented a clear formation story. She talks about
being a grandmother, which humanizes her, but doesn’t explain how she got to be
the person she is.
With Colbert, one
saw the kernel of a Biden formation story that could connect not only with
Democratic voters but with other voters as well. It is a story of dual loss:
his wife and daughter decades ago and his son this year. Out of that loss comes
a great empathy, a connection to those who are suffering in this economy and
this world. Out of that loss comes a hypercharged sense of mission. Out of that
loss comes a liberation from the fear of failure that dogs most politicians,
and causes them to dodge, prevaricate and spin.
People who have
suffered a loss often want to connect their tragedy to some larger redemptive
mission. Biden could plausibly and genuinely emerge sadder but more empathetic
and more driven. That would be not only a natural reaction, but also the basis
for a compelling campaign. Biden would then benefit from the greater verbal
self-discipline he has developed while vice president and from the fact that
this year, as Donald Trump proves, voters seem tolerant of free-talkers.
Democratic voters
aren’t the only ones looking for a strong formation story. Republicans are
looking for one, too, but the nature of the Republican race is different. If
Democrats are arguing over what positions to fight for, Republicans are arguing
about how to fight.
Republican
presidential candidates have found that the strongest way to win favor on the
stump is to attack the leaders of their party in Congress for being timid and
inept. Many Republican voters are alienated from their party’s leadership.
They’re looking for a candidate who can lead a mutiny.
Donald Trump’s
mutiny story is pretty clear. In doing business deal after business deal, he
mastered the skills needed to take on the morons who are now running the party
and the world. Ben Carson’s story is clear, too. Through his faith and through
his medical career he developed the purity of heart and the discipline of will
required to walk into Washington without being corrupted by the rottenness
found there.
The Republican
desire for a mutiny has kept Trump and Carson aloft longer than most people
supposed. I still think they will implode. Their followers need them to be the
superheroes they are portraying themselves to be. But politics is hard,
especially for beginners, and sooner or later they will flounder and look like
they’re in over their heads. At that point it’s all over. At that point, a
Bush, Rubio, Kasich or Walker will have an opening to tell a different and more
positive story.
On the Democratic
side, a Biden run would be more formidable than I thought last month. You need
emotion to beat emotion. With Stephen Colbert he revealed a story and suggested
a campaign that is moving, compelling and in tune with the moment.
