Awash in his party’s love, President Joe Biden finally did become that bridge to a new generation of leaders. He movingly performed the most profound act a politician in a democracy can undertake — willingly handing over power — as he ceded the leadership of the party to Kamala Harris Monday at the Democratic National Convention.
He capped a half-century long career, as a senator, a vice president and finally president, by citing a verse of a song called “American Anthem” that he said was important to his family. “What shall our legacy be, what will our children say, let me know in my heart when my days are through, America, America, I gave my best to you,” he said. In a valedictory speech in Chicago that stretched past midnight on the east coast, Biden, 81, also placed that legacy — and what he sees as the fate of American democracy — in the hands of the woman he referred to as “vice president soon-to-be-president Kamala Harris.” “She’s tough, she’s experienced and she has enormous integrity,” he said.
“Her story represents the best American story,” Biden said. “She’ll be a president our children can look up to. She’ll be a president respected by world leaders. … She will be a president we can all be proud of. She will be a historic president who puts her stamp on America’s future. ”Biden’s gesture was especially poignant as he became the first sitting president to shelve a reelection race in more than five-and-a-half decades.
He wanted deeply to win the second term that all presidents crave, but ultimately, under fierce pressure from colleagues he once considered loyalists, decided that his party and the country would be better off with someone younger.
His self-sacrifice highlighted the exact opposite choice made by his predecessor, Donald Trump, who did everything he could to cling to power in defiance of voters’ will in 2020 and is now running again for a term he’s promised to dedicate to “retribution.”
Hours earlier, Trump had echoed the language that drove America into its worst constitutional crisis of the modern era four years ago. He implied he’d only accept this year’s result if he thinks it’s free and fair. There was no evidence that was not the case last time, and there is no sign it will be different this year.Biden entered a colosseum of emotion when he slow-jogged on stage after his daughter’s Ashley’s introduction, then pulled out a handkerchief to dab his eyes. A thunderous ovation gave way to chants of “We love Joe!” and “Thank you Joe” from the crowd. Biden grabbed the podium, his arms wide, and absorbed the love. He turned and raised his hands to the those in the highest seats in the house.
The president began by reprising his decision to run against Trump in 2020 — to ensure, he said, that “hate has no safe harbor,” then went on to cast a presidency that opened amid the horror of the Covid-19 pandemic as a stirring success that saved democracy and rebuilt “the backbone of America,” the middle class.
Biden recalled the literal and metaphorical chill of his inauguration and the deep national crisis that prevailed at the time. “Now it’s summer, the winter has passed, and with a grateful heart, I stand before you now on this August night to report that democracy has prevailed, democracy has delivered and now democracy must be preserved.”
He summoned passion and conviction, proudly voicing words that would have been penned for a nominee’s address if he still led the ticket. His voice was strong — in fact, he spent much of the speech shouting. It was a booming contrast to the reedy tone that helped doom his career in his disastrous performance at the CNN debate against Trump in Atlanta two months ago. He rocked with anger when he spoke about the Republican nominee’s lies, what he sees as the ex-president’s besmirching of America’s image abroad and the toll wreaked by gun violence.
Yet there were also reminders of why he will not claim a second term. Biden’s age was evident in the sometimes open-mouthed stare of an old man. His words often slurred together, or he tripped on a phrase. It’s been Biden’s fate to age in front of the eyes of the world. He’s no longer “Joey,” the beaming, barnstorming up-and-comer with the “dazzling Biden smile” as depicted in Richard Ben Cramer’s classic book “What it Takes.” He’s not even the dynamic wisecracking senator of the 2008 presidential primary run.
The president is likely to deliver a farewell address before he leaves office in January. But Monday night was likely his last chance before such a captive live audience. There will be no more State of the Union addresses. This was not a final goodbye, but a president in the twilight of his days was writing the first history of his own administration.
— CutC by Cnn.com
