Joe Biden has shown us what it means to put our country first
His voluntary and gracious departure from the presidential race is astonishing. Now it's time to elect Kamala Harris.
Even the most experienced pols, the ones who’ve seen it all, can still be astonished. Despite all the pressure on Joe Biden over the past few weeks, his voluntary and gracious departure from the presidential race still shocked both Democrats and Republicans.
On the Republican side, of course, it meant that the oldest candidate in a race they did all they can to make about age, is their own. Joe’s decision leaves them flatfooted because selflessness is not a trait they can imagine, let alone plan for.
On the Democratic the reaction was more complicated. First and foremost, there was gratitude. Then a bit of awe. Then excitement. Most Democrats I talked to were deeply moved by President Biden’s decision, and all said it was in keeping with the man’s character. He would put his country first, always. There was also genuine excitement about Kamala Harris, who has grown on the job as Vice President, and who most expect to be a terrific campaigner, then a level-headed and tough president. There was also a recognition of the benefit of the timing: after the GOP convention went all in on the issue of age, and close enough to the Dem Convention to limit the time for mischief.
Astonishment this past week was not limited to change atop the Democratic ticket. Long time observers of politics were at a loss for words to describe the blown opportunity that was the GOP Convention. Modern conventions are multimedia platforms for political parties to tell the rest of the country who they are, what they hope to achieve for our country, and to connect to people more broadly. By all accounts, the GOP gathering in Milwaukee was aimed only at MAGA members. Why bother if you are only talking to yourself? Mr. Trump was handed a well-crafted acceptance speech that would have offered unity to the nation he has done so much to sunder. Instead of reading it, he buried the text in his usual divisive and, let’s call it what is, unhinged, blather. All told, the convention did nothing to reach out to America, but instead continued the MAGA trend of further isolating its members from both truth and American progress.
The GOP faithful left the convention crowing about their big red wave (again). Once more they talked of their inevitable triumph over the rest of us. Blah, blah, blah. There is nothing inevitable about bullies and despots. America beats them all the time.
Democrats have finished their primary season, and yet for the first time in my life, we approach a convention with where nearly all of the delegates are free to support whomever they wish. VP Harris is likely to emerge as the party’s nominee for a host of reasons, but this one foremost: she’s earned it.
Despite what Republicans want everyone to believe (no, I’m not talking about the 2020 election, or the criminal convictions of their nominee), they will lose in November. Americans love our democracy too much to throw it over in a huff. Joe Biden has shown us what it means to put our country first, and in that moment taught us an old lesson: we are better than our worst instincts. Speaking of worst instinct: The MAGA agenda, as outlined in Project 2025 and its dumbed down version, the GOP platform, are antithetical to American values. Plus, VP Harris is a strong campaigner.
Then there’s this: America is likely to respond to this moment of renewed racism, antisemitism, and xenophobia by electing our first woman president, our second African American president, and our first Jewish first spouse. In a time where religious nationalism and a captured Supreme Court opened the door to a national abortion ban, we are likely to win national protections for the right of choice. In a time when the GOP promised oil company execs that in exchange for a billion-dollar campaign donation they would roll back environmental protections, Americans are likely to put our own future over their quarterly profits and continue the transition to clean energy. In a time when autocrats are on the march (literally through eastern Ukraine, and figuratively through the GOP) Americans are likely to stand with democratic norms and democratic allies, to pledge ourselves once more to the idea that all are created equal and that no one is above the law.
Astonishing, indeed.