Despite a hotly anticipated House Democratic Caucus meeting that went nowhere and a meeting between Senate Democrats that was described as “a constructive conversation” (that also went nowhere), everything in Democratic presidential politics remains the same: Joe Biden is still the Democratic nominee. Still, no matter how many Dems insist that nothing has changed, the past 10 days have showcased a different campaign style from the president, as he fights to hang on as a candidate.

Biden emerged for his Friday interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos eager to strike a new pose after his disastrous debate performance eight days prior. After a week of doing almost nothing to assuage nervous Democrats that he was indeed up to the task of beating Donald Trump, Biden sat across from the longtime TV personality and evinced a new aggressive tack. What he said, though, was less striking than his appearance: Few viewers would say he looked up to the task of beating Trump, but he definitely did look a lot more like Trump himself, lacquered in the orange patina that has been the former president’s signature.

But Biden’s being in bronzer is not the only Trumpy aesthetic turn the president has taken since late June’s debate disaster, which revealed his condition to be much more dire than was previously understood. He’s now running a truly embattled presidential campaign that has him trailing Trump nationally and in most if not all swing states, sitting atop the worst approval rating ever for this point in a first term, and trending worse. In response, Biden has seized upon this low moment with a strategy that seems to owe a lot to his predecessor.

First, Biden has closed ranks around himself, relying less on his paid and professional advisers and more on his family members for input. In recent days,........

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