A Minute-by-Minute Look at How the Woman Leading Biden’s Research Team Fights for the Truth
It’s eight days until Election Day, and as the Research Director for the Biden campaign, it’s my job to ensure Joe Biden has access to every fact, figure, story, clip, and photo that could help him win. Last week’s final presidential debate was like our Super Bowl. Holding President Trump accountable for his lies and smears is no small task, as you can imagine.
So here’s a play-by-play of how I spent the day leading up to debate night, which yeah, probably feels like 800 years ago. Reminder: It was only Thursday.
7:15 a.m. My alarm goes off. I start each day on Twitter, which is usually the first and last thing I see before I go to sleep and wake up each morning. It’s a habit I hope to break once the campaign ends. I then check my email and texts, looking for general research questions about Biden’s record. I usually have dozens of unread messages on my phone each morning.
8:00 a.m. I get out of bed, pop a nespresso pod in our machine and drink my first coffee of the day—more to come—and take a seat at the desk I ordered off Amazon when quarantine began.
8:30 a.m. First call of the day, it's with the campaign's senior staff. I hear about the campaign’s wider goals and the upcoming schedules for Vice President Biden, Dr. Jill Biden, Senator Harris, and Doug Emhoff. Today is debate day, our last debate of the cycle! In the first debate, Vice President Biden spoke directly to the American people about their biggest concerns, like COVID and our struggling economy. I’m looking forward to seeing him do it again—no matter what Trump does on stage, nothing changes the fact that folks are feeling the failures of his presidency. Just yesterday, President Obama delivered a "scathing takedown" of Trump in Philadelphia, so I'm feeling pretty pumped.
9:15 a.m. Next up: the daily communications department call. I hear what message our campaign is pushing, what stories are coming and get requests from our communications team about where research is needed—whether it’s Biden’s early warnings about COVID-19 vs. Trump’s, or which milkshake Vice President Biden ordered at Cook Out.
10 a.m. I do a call with my team. Back when we were in an office together, we would huddle in a room next to the snack table and everyone would grab a donut on their way to meetings. When we went virtual, we set up this call to stay connected—sans donuts, sadly. Each researcher gives an update on their plan for the day. Since today is debate day, we’re making sure that we have the #receipts on hand for Biden’s accomplishments and the president's lies about Biden’s record so that we can respond in real-time. We're on deck to help the digital team push out content, assist the comms team in responding to reporter inquiries, and weigh in on press releases.
10:15 a.m. Second coffee of the day.
10:45 a.m. My boyfriend eats lunch. I ask him why he eats lunch so early, he responds, “this is actually late for me.” Seriously? Who eats lunch this early?
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. I answer emails and texts from different departments with research requests, usually from the communications team.
12:00 p.m. I do my daily check-in call with the more senior members of my team. It’s only noon but on a presidential campaign, a lot has already happened. No one day is ever the same, and things move fast, so it’s important to touch base mid-day to see what's taking shape.
12:30 p.m. I eat lunch, Amy’s Light and Lean Lasagna, which I just tried this week and highly recommend. It’s always a working lunch for me—I eat as I scroll through Twitter and respond to messages from my team. Sometimes I’m so distracted, my lunch comes out still frozen, so there are multiple attempts to reheat.
1-1:15 p.m. I take a walk and try not to look at my phone.
1:16 p.m. I get back and immediately look at my phone.
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. A close family friend recently passed away, and due to COVID, I can’t be there in person, so I take a few hours to attend the memorial service via Zoom. The pandemic is affecting us all in different ways, and like so many others across the country, it’s tough to not be able to grieve with friends and family in person.
3:45 p.m. I do a final re-evaluation of the #receipts that my team has prepared for quick distribution during the debate. The campaign will send press releases throughout the debate, respond to questions from reporters, and set the facts straight, so this prep is essential. Trump tells the same lies about Biden over and over, so we’ve gotten really good at anticipating a lot of his deflections and distractions.
4:00 p.m. My boyfriend decides to have dinner. I kid you not.
NO MALARKY!!!
— Megan (@MeganApper) October 23, 2020
5:00 – 6:00 p.m. Two more calls, one with the communications team and one with my team. I remind the researchers of their debate roles. Some will be assisting with press inquiries, some will be pulling transcripts, while others will be approving outgoing digital material. We’ll be keeping in touch throughout the night over email and calls.
6:15 p.m. I eat dinner. I opt for the same Greek restaurant that I ordered from when Biden and Harris won the last two debates—I’m a tad superstitious. My go-to pick is the chicken souvlaki sandwich.
8:30 p.m. The virtual debate “war room” opens up and research, comms, policy, and digital are here so we can all sync up to quickly respond and back up Biden over the next 90 minutes.
9:00 p.m. The debate begins. I’ve moved from my desk to the couch, and my boyfriend is watching with me. Biden starts off strong by reminding viewers that anyone responsible for the deaths of over 220,000 Americans should not be President of the United States. It's clear Trump still has no plan to contain COVID-19, and no plan to help our struggling economy. Trump goes on to blame states with Democratic leaders because of course he can’t take responsibility for his failures. Biden, on other hand, talks about how he’ll be a president for the *United* States.
I loved the moment when Biden reminded the American people that Trump still has not released his tax returns, so he should either show us or stop talking. I hit up Twitter to share my thoughts:
.@JoeBiden has the receipts AND the tax returns!
— Megan (@MeganApper) October 23, 2020
10:30 p.m. The 90 minutes fly by so fast as I’m fielding requests and making sure everyone has the research they need to answer reporter questions.
10:48 p.m. Finally, I've wrapped up all the loose ends and am able to catch my breath. I declare victory for Biden on Twitter.
Joe Biden won the debate!
— Megan (@MeganApper) October 23, 2020
11:00 p.m. I read a story in the Wall Street Journal that humiliates Trump by gutting his latest lies. It’s a delight.
11:51 p.m. My victory tweet is backed up by an instant poll.
CNN instant poll...
Biden 53, Trump 39
32D-31R party ID— Nate Cohn (@Nate_Cohn) October 23, 2020
12:30 a.m. I gloat with my team that we won all the debates against Trump and Pence. I take a step back to remember how we’ve come since a few dozen of us launched the campaign in a WeWork back in April 2019. I’m so proud to be part of this campaign, especially knowing that we're going to continue to work as hard as we can in this fight. We have just over a week to go and we’re leaving nothing on the line.
1:00 a.m. Bedtime. Scroll through Twitter one more time. I hope that people can sleep easier once Biden and Harris are in the White House. I know I will. On to Joevember! (And don’t forget to make your plan to vote.)
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