Historians offer up precedent that might come with some lessons: James Garfield let the people come to him. What Garfield started in 1880, other Republicans would emulate and another future Ohio president would perfect. With McKinley's 1896 campaign, the front porch campaign became a front porch strategy. But in the age of COVID-19, echoes of Garfield's front porch strategy are apparent again. Biden's campaign strategy against Trump might be seen as a sort of virtual front-porch campaign in itself, said retired long-time Democratic consultant Gerald Austin.