Election Countdown, 103 Days to Go: Biden and Harris Each Set a Tone for Looking Ahead.
‘I revere this office, but I love my country more’: Joe Biden on passing the torch, to Kamala Harris and to the rest of us.
Joe Biden speaking this evening from behind the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. (Photo Evan Vucci/Pool/AFP via Getty Images.)
This post comes after watching Joe Biden give his quasi-valedictory address from the Oval Office. My purpose is to say a word about the tone both he and Kamala Harris have struck over these past three-plus tumultuous days.
In that time each of them has accomplished something very difficult, and of great importance for their party and the country. Biden’s achievement, leading to tonight’s speech, came after well-publicized strain and effort. Harris’s came seemingly without trying. Both of them involved, again, the tone with which they invite Americans to look forward.
Let’s start with a reminder of how much the tone of just about everything has been upended in the past 84 hours (as I write). That’s the span since Joe Biden announced that he would leave the race.
One week ago at this time, JD Vance was delivering his “small-town guy” acceptance speech and was considered a next-gen plus for the Republican ticket. Donald Trump, still wearing his huge white wound-dressing, was coasting, and was basking in press reports about the new, “serene,” unifying approach he would bring to the campaign and the presidency.
And meanwhile the White House disclosed that Biden was again sick with Covid. Last Wednesday evening, just a week ago, cameras cruelly caught him making his halting way down the Air Force One stairs, as he went off to his quarantine in Wilmington.
The tone was bleak and quarrelsome among Democrats, and cocky among MAGAs. But then came Biden’s withdrawal announcement, and his endorsement of Harris, and the wave of delegate pledges, and the tsunami of contributions. On the Democratic side, growing frustration with Biden was instantly transformed to gratitude and admiration. For the Republicans, soaring complacency was replaced by “hey, no fair!!” griping about the changed playing field.
Would the Democrats have been better off with an “open” mini-primary chewing up the weeks between now and the convention? I think absolutely not, but that’s for another time, and anyway it is moot. I refer you to this excellent article by my friend Stuart Stevens for a detailed “no” case.1 Also, the donor-and-delegate coalescence behind Harris gave every sign of being more organic than orchestrated. (Could all this have been orchestrated within a day of Biden’s surprise withdrawal? Seems unlikely for the Democratic party I know.)
Now the way the two principals did their part to set the tone.
Joe Biden from the Oval Office:
-Sadness quotient: High.
-Resentment quotient: Very low.
-Vision and idealism quotient: Off the charts.
Biden’s speech this evening had some “normal” virtues. For instance, it was short, as these things go—roughly 1500 words, or a little over 10 minutes in delivery. It was well and tightly written, covering a lot of ground without too much detail.
It also had a virtue that is more awkward to talk about: It reminded us why it’s good that he has left the race.
Especially considering that he has been sick, and especially in comparison with some recent appearances, Biden looked good. His tailoring is excellent (his suit fit just right, to my amateur eye). His skin color looked summer-y and warm. His hair was well-styled. He kept much better eye contact than he has in some other performances.
But his delivery, like his gait and bearing of recent months, said: old. Especially after hearing Kamala Harris these past few days, plus the many other Democrats vying to be her running mate or campaign for her, I thought: I am glad someone other than Biden can lead the party’s charge.
The speech itself? I thought it did all the things it had to do, in just the right ways. (My version of the “things it had to do” I set out several weeks ago.)
It expressed Biden’s great pride in what he and his administration had achieved, and hinted at the great struggle he had gone through in coming to this historic, selfless choice. It explained the reasons for his confidence in Kamala Harris, without turning the speech into a partisan ad. It set out the stakes in the coming election, without dignifying Donald Trump by naming him.
It revealed pain, which Biden has always excelled in recognizing and trying to soothe. But it betrayed not a bit of the anger or self-pity that Biden must undoubtedly feel. The decision itself was an enormous service to the country and the party. Biden’s tone in presenting it was almost as important.
And in substance, the speech had one other note I found different from his previous addresses, and profound.