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Joe Biden delivers a conciliatory first speech as president-elect to all of his compatriots. Now he wants to overcome the division. Future Vice President Harris pledges loyalty.
opinion
Joe Biden will be made public after the election.
Video: Tamedia
Then he comes trotting to the stage with a mask on his face and as fast as if he were a young bungee and not 77 years old. As if he could happily occupy the position that awaits him for 20 years. The stage is set for them Joe Biden’s first speech as the 46th president-elect of the United States. In the parking lot of the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden’s hometown.
You are almost at the goal of a long-cherished dream.. He tried three times to become president. When he failed a second time, Barack Obama named him vice president. He would have loved to run for Democrats in 2016. But then it should be Hillary Clinton. With the known result. Now, almost 78 years old, he is as good as there.
Biden mainly looks at the cars when he approaches the desk. Several hundred are standing in the parking lot in front of the stage. In him, in him, in the middle and next to him, people sit, dance and cheer, as in a party in a drive-in movie theater. Only with live program. This type of rally has become a hallmark of his election campaign.
“People!” Biden begins. «The people of the country spoke. You gave us a clear and convincing victory. We won with the most votes cast for a president. “That was his first important message. Especially for all those Trump supporters who might not want to admit it yet.
His second message: unity. He wants to be the president of all Americans, regardless of whether they voted for or against him. He does not see any democratic or republican state. “I only see the United States.” Biden speaks directly to Trump supporters. He “understands the disappointment, I’ve gotten lost a few times.” But: “Let’s give ourselves a chance.” The others are not enemies. “You are American.”
Biden talks about the mandate that the Americans gave him. This includes ending the corona pandemic. On Monday, he will convene a committee of specialists who will develop a plan that can take effect the day after he takes office on January 20. His mandate also includes bringing prosperity and reforming the healthcare system. It addresses the social differences that must be overcome, the systemic racism in the country. And also climate change, which must be controlled.
The core of their mission is “to end the grim age of mutual demonization.” Combine this with a warning to Congress to finally cooperate again, to work together. An unusual message for a president of the United States. And anyone who has followed American policy for the past ten or 15 years should have little hope that Biden’s wish will be heard.
Biden would have guessed it. But he says: “It is time to heal.” Because: “If you can decide not to cooperate, you can also decide to cooperate.” Cooperation, that’s the will of the American people. Biden has to hope that political actors in Washington see him in a similar light. If he is unlucky, he will face a Republican-dominated Senate when he takes office in January.
Biden took his time after CNN became the first broadcaster to award him the victory at noon. Shortly after, he phoned Kamala Harris, vice president-elect. He must have caught her jogging. “We did it, Joe,” she says into the phone, wearing sunglasses and sweaty hair, the video of which spreads quickly on the Internet. “You will be the next president of the United States.” And then she laughs like she can’t believe it herself. Only at night then the appearance of the two in prime time.
Harris takes the stage before Biden, all in white, the color of suffragettes, those women who fought for the right to vote in America more than 100 years ago until it was finally enshrined in the constitution in 1920.
“You made a clear choice,” he exclaims. «You chose hope, decency, science. And yes, for the truth. “Other vice presidents-elect would leave it that way, praising the new boss in the White House. But first of all Harris pays tribute to the women who would have paved the way to this office.” I stand on his shoulders “he says. But he praises Biden for having the courage to put a woman by his side. Harris will be the first woman, the first black woman, and the first person of Indian descent to serve in this office.
«I will be loyal, honest and prepared. Like Joe was for Barack Obama ”, he promises. However, she is also the first candidate for Biden’s successor if the 78-year-old future woman has to resign early. Or if, as it is supposed, it does not run again in 2024. It will be interesting to see what dynamics develop from it.
Neither of them says a word about Trump. Why also? The incumbent president is as good as history. Biden’s victory is too clear to be seriously debatable. For the various legal tricks that Trump still has in his quiver, he clearly has no support in the Republican camp. It’s over, even if Trump doesn’t want to admit it to himself or the country.
«You chose hope, decency, science. And yes, for the truth. “
In the end, it all depended on Pennsylvania. Biden’s victory was only decided there on Saturday after difficult counting days. Biden was less than 35,000 votes ahead when CNN declared him the Pennsylvania winner.
On election night, Trump still had an advantage of several hundred thousand votes there. Thanks to the large number of absentee votes, up to 80 percent of Democrats, Biden is unassailable.
With 20 Pennsylvania voters, Biden has passed the 270-vote mark he needs to be elected to Electoral College office.
The show ends with fireworks. The number 46 lights up in the sky. Biden will be the 46th president. There are cheers. Biden supporters wave flags, especially American flags. It’s no longer about who wins. From now on it is the United States again.
