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At around 8:40 p.m., the old man confidently ascended the stage, putting aside his hitherto creaking sound like a leper raised from his sickbed.
Suddenly, that purposeful walk turned into a steady jog. That jog turned into a sprint, turned into a run as he plunged to collect the prize that sometimes seemed beyond his reach.
Standing firm on the lectern, he paused to let this career-defining moment, this life-defining moment, wash over him.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr, for so long the almost man in American politics, was able to run as the 46th president of the United States.
And after what seemed like an eternity, he finally spoke: ‘My countrymen …’
The tens of thousands of supporters who had gathered in this huge, industrial-sized parking lot outside Biden’s hometown of Wilmington, Delaware, cheered and applauded the man who has served them for more than three decades in the US Senate. United States.
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr, for so long the almost man in American politics, was able to run as the 46th president of the United States.
He flashed them a smile as wide as the Brandywine River. He couldn’t have looked more regal if he’d been dressed as an ermine. “The people of this nation have spoken,” he continued. ‘They have given us a clear victory. A resounding victory. A victory for “We the People”.
In fact they had. Although this was certainly an unlikely scenario to reveal the new leader of the free world.
A few days ago, life in this quiet city, about a two hour drive from Washington DC, was as exciting as dancing without music.
It reminded me of a city of soulless passengers somewhere on the M25. But shortly before 11.30 a.m. M. From Saturday, when it was announced that mighty Pennsylvania had finally turned blue, it became the center of the universe.
Men and women, young and old, hugged and kissed as a frenzy of optimism spilled through the streets.
Children danced, cars incessantly honked their horns. And along the banks of the river, where hikers were enjoying the incredible 80-degree conditions, champagne corks appeared in succession.
Now, after four years of Donald Trump’s aggression, he had the feeling that everything would be better.
Of course it won’t. But they have to believe. That’s the American way. At the stage when the newly anointed president was to deliver his speech, the crowds gathered by noon.
At one point, when they began to do a honeyed rendition of God Bless America, a young blonde took the opportunity to get on her knees and proposed to her girlfriend. Certainly new world.
In other places, almost everyone I spoke to had their own Joe Biden story. I met a woman named Pat whose mother Carla had been her housekeeper. And a young man named José claimed that he once cut his hair.
Another man I met at Biden’s local watering hole, Iron Hill Brewery, remembered the president-elect visiting his elementary school and looking hurt that none of the students knew who he was.
His observations of Biden were universal. He was a “nice, approachable guy”, a “polite gentleman” who “always tipped well.”
This sense of decency was reflected in Biden’s victory speech. He wants to “lower the temperature” that has skyrocketed across the country during this bitterest race for the White House.
“We must stop treating our opponents as our enemy,” he said. ‘We are not enemies. We are Americans.’
And special thanks were given to the African-American community ‘who always support me’.
He was certainly right about that. Long ago, during the first Democratic primaries, Biden’s campaign was so chaotic that many thought he would pull out. Only when the competition reached the densely black southern states did it begin to gain traction.
This was by far his strongest performance of the season. As, of course, it should have been. However, he is not yet a speaker in the mold of Barack Obama or Bill Clinton.
Sometimes he stuttered. And those long pauses became exhausting over the course of 15 minutes. Plus, there was the unavoidable mistake he’s worryingly prone to.
This sense of decency was reflected in Biden’s victory speech. He wants to “lower the temperature” that has skyrocketed across the country during this bitterest race for the White House. “We must stop treating our opponents as our enemy,” he said. ‘We are not enemies. We are Americans’
At one point, he lamented the ‘230 million’ lives the pandemic had taken, before hastily correcting that number to ‘230,000’.
Observing obediently from the sides was Kamala Harris, dressed in a bright white John Travolta suit, who will now become America’s first vice president.
But will Ms. Harris push for the Oval Office to be taken over, as many assume she will eventually, sooner rather than later? Watching her and Biden backstage during a speech the night before, I didn’t detect a great deal of warmth between them.
Biden ended by issuing a challenge to the American people: “Let’s be the nation we know we can be,” he urged the crowd, now whipped into a deafening crescendo.
Yet despite all the ecstasy surrounding me, this didn’t feel like the exciting “new dawn” in American politics that Biden supporters and their friends in the liberal media want us to create.
His main man’s crab crawl over the finish line on Saturday was not the definitive ending many expected. The Republican party, if not Trump, will surely have been encouraged by his performance in this election.
But when the person who will be given the keys to all the doors in the world walked off the stage and fireworks exploded over the skies of Wilmington, a clear message rang out around the world: America has spoken.
