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Joe Biden calls for unity, unity, unity
Throughout his campaign, Joe Biden spoke about how he ran to restore “the soul of America,” and returned to the sentiment over and over again in his victory speech. There was the Obamaesque: “I promise to be a president who seeks not to divide, but to unify; that does not see red and blue states, but the United States. “There was the biblical thing:” The Bible tells us that for everything there is a time: a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow and a time to heal. it is time to heal in America. ” And Joe from Scranton was blunt: “Let’s give ourselves a chance.”
This pair will celebrate America’s diversity.
From the moment Kamala Harris, dressed in suffragette white, appeared on stage to the chords of Mary J. Blige’s Work That, it was clear that this pair of leaders would celebrate America as it is, not America whiter. From the past. Biden celebrated “the widest and most diverse coalition in history: Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Progressives, Moderates, Conservatives, Young, Old, Urban, Suburban, Rural, Gay, Straight, Transgender, White, Latino, Asian, Native American,” as well as “the Afro-American community”, which he especially praised for defending him “when this campaign was at its lowest point.”
“We must make the promise of the country a reality for all, regardless of their race, ethnicity, faith, identity or disability,” he added.
Harris paid tribute to her mother, who immigrated to the United States from India at the age of 19, not knowing that her daughter would be, as Biden put it, “the first woman, the first black woman, the first woman of descent from the South Asia, and the first daughter of immigrants elected to a national office in this country ”. It was a night to celebrate finally breaking that stubborn glass ceiling. “I can be the first woman in this office,” Harris said. “I will not be the last.”
America moved away from its “darker impulses,” but it came close
Biden only mentioned Donald Trump once, and only in reference to the people who voted for the president, but the specter of the incumbent president hovered over both speeches. Both Harris and Biden referenced the fragile state of American democracy, and the other direction that things could have gone. “Our own democracy was on the ballot in this election,” Harris said.
Biden called for an end to “this grim age of demonization,” saying, “It’s time to put the harsh rhetoric aside, to lower the temperature, to see each other again, to hear each other again.” Perhaps the closest Biden came to directly invoking the ugly racism and demagoguery of the Trump era was a reference to Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address: “Our nation is shaped by the constant battle between our best angels and our darkest impulses. It is time for our best angels to prevail. “
There is a lot of work to be done, and it starts with the control of Covid
As much as Americans want to sit back and let a couple of competent and level-headed adults take the wheel for the next four years, both Harris and Biden were clear that the country is not in the best shape, and fixing it won. ” t necessarily be easy.
“Now is when the real work begins: the hard work, the necessary work, the good work,” Harris said. Biden spoke of “the great battles of our time” and outlined six key priorities: the coronavirus, the economy, healthcare, “the battle to achieve racial justice and eradicate systemic racism”, the climate crisis and “the battle to restore decency, defend democracy and give everyone in this country a fair chance. “
Addressing the pandemic will be the first order of business, he said, and something he will begin to address with the appointment of scientists to a Covid transition team on Monday. “Our job starts with controlling Covid,” he said. “I will spare no effort or commitment to reverse this pandemic.”
America’s reputation abroad is improving
Although Biden made few references to the rest of the world, what he said about America’s role within him will undoubtedly be reassuring to many. “Tonight, the whole world is looking at America,” Biden said. “I believe that at our best, America is a beacon to the world, and we do not lead by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.”
For the past four years, many have watched with horror or fearful anticipation what would come out of the president’s mouth next. On Saturday night, over the course of 30 minutes, Harris and Biden came out to the world to discuss shared values and aspirations, without insulting any nation or group of people, without invoking hatred or fear, and without threats or rancor. .
That sound you hear? That is the sound of billions of people exhaling. It has been four long years.
