The New York Times:
Over the course of my career covering politics, I have attended hundreds of presidential campaign events. I’ve never been to one anything like Joe Biden’s economic address in the Philadelphia suburbs today.
There was no soundtrack of carefully selected, inoffensive pop music blasting in the background. No reporters fighting over power outlets and positioning. No rope line for the candidate to walk, shaking hands and snapping selfies.
Oh, and hardly any voters.
About 20 handpicked local officials, small-business owners and reporters sat in folding chairs, each placed within a large white circle taped on the floor of a recreation center to maintain — or at least encourage — social distancing. A few attendees whispered to each other as photographers quietly chatted. You could hear the clack of typing echoing across the room. The silence was striking.
Here is a picture. Yes that is Joe Biden at the front of the room. Speaking!
Nearly everyone wore masks. Before entering, a Biden campaign worker took our temperatures and asked if we had shown any symptoms of Covid-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus.
“We are going to get started in just a minute,” a staff member announced. “Today’s event has been set up to adhere to social distancing guidelines.”
Then, Mr. Biden appeared. He arrived with such little fanfare that I didn’t even notice him enter the room. There was no introduction by an organizer to pump up a crowd that wasn’t there, as is typical with campaign events. He just stood behind a lectern, pasted with the placard “Reopen Right: Safer and Stronger,” and began reading a speech off the teleprompters, assailing President Trump.
