What Joe Biden must do now

At this pivotal time in history, presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden has a chance to inspire voters, uplift his campaign, and put his own stamp on history. He should show up in front of the White House now to address the protesters. He must build on his strengths by expressing empathy for those touched by the death of George Floyd and explaining his proposals for police reform and equality. This bold gesture would contrast him with the hunkered down President Trump and complement the introduction of the critical police reform bill by Democrats in Congress.

This address would be a transformational moment for his campaign, akin to when John Kennedy called Coretta Scott King before the 1960 election, as her husband languished in a prison in Georgia. In the fall, Martin Luther King joined student protesters against segregation at a department store in Atlanta. The police had arrested King and transported him in the dead of night to the maximum security state prison in Reidsville, a place where a black man in the Jim Crow south could easily disappear.

While black voters had typically supported Democratic candidates since 1936, Kennedy was a lukewarm proponent of black civil rights who relied on white supremacists who at the time controlled politics in the generally Democratic south. His Republican opponent, Richard Nixon, even had an arguably superior civil rights record, but he decided that the safe course for his campaign was to stay silent after the arrest of King.

Kennedy seized the moment. He called Governor Ernest Vandiver to ask if he could seek the release of King. Against the counsel of his advisers, who feared alienating white voters and creating the new perception of a public relations ploy, Kennedy boldly redefined his campaign and shifted the arc of history. He called the pregnant wife of King and said, “I know this must be very hard for you. I understand you are expecting your third child, and if there is anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

After he was released from Reidsville on a $2,000 bail, King then lauded Kennedy as a “great force” in his ability to get out of prison. Kennedy did it, he said, “because of his great concern and his humanitarian bent” with “no political implications.” King said that he heard nothing from Nixon or learned of any Republican efforts to secure his freedom.

Remarkably, Kennedy suffered little fallout from white voters, but gained momentum among black voters and support from civil rights advocates. In “The Making of the President,” Theodore White wrote that the decision to call Coretta Scott King is ranked among the most crucial at the time. It turned King from a remote civil rights leader into a famous national figure who had struck blows against black disenfranchisement and segregation. Nixon, meanwhile, later regretted allowing history to pass by. His silence at the time, he mused, was a “fatal communication gap.”

Like the advisers of Kennedy, the confidants of Biden may worry about a perception of a political ploy. For Biden, however, the moral imperatives outweigh such risks. He can emphasize his support for the police reform bill in Congress and explain the need to focus such efforts on crime and letting other professionals handle matters like addiction, mental health, child discipline, homeless activity, and certain disputes.

This address would beat any speech on race by Trump and galvanize the vast majority of Americans who back the protesters and hope to advance social justice. Timidity has plagued conventional Democratic candidates like Michael Dukakis and Hillary Clinton, who are now most remembered for mistakes. As William Shakespeare wrote, “There is a tide in the affairs of men, which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune.”

Allan Lichtman is an election forecaster and a distinguished professor of history at American University. Follow him on Twitter at @AllanLichtman.