Biden’s not running for a local office that requires grassroots hand-holding. He’s running a national media campaign based on the power of his amicable personal brand, his record of experience, and the residual goodwill from serving as the VP to a very popular recent president who, for some reason, much of the Democratic field decided to run away from. (This, by the way, was the model for one successful past presidential effort—George H.W. Bush’s in 1992. And maybe had Biden, rather than Hillary, run four years ago, we wouldn’t be where we are now. But I digress.)

What Biden’s campaign does not have is the intensity of support that results in an army of bros shitposting on Twitter (or really, any support on Twitter at all). He doesn’t have a red-hatted mob chanting for the jailing of his political enemies. His campaign events don’t draw massive crowds. There aren’t doorknockers fanned out across the states. I’m the only person I know with a Biden t-shirt. (And my family has six t-shirts for politicians in various 2020 elections, so this is not exactly a show of commitment.)

Which brings us to the big question that now faces Biden: Is “Consensus Comfort” enough for a presidential campaign in the current age? Is an online mob now a necessary element in a winning campaign?

Or has Trump’s incompetence and cruelty and all-consuming insanity rattled a plurality of the populace to the point where they just want it all to end?