President Biden will deliver a speech he never intended to give on Monday night, addressing the Democratic National Convention as he attempts to pass the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris while burnishing his own legacy as a rare one-term president not seeking reelection.
While many of the evening’s speakers focused on describing the historic nature of Harris’s campaign and outlining their personal relationships with her, the vice president, in a surprise appearance at the convention on Monday, focused on Biden’s legacy.
“I want to start by celebrating our incredible president, Joe Biden, who will be speaking later tonight,” Harris said, after receiving a rapturous response when she took the stage in Chicago. “Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation, and for all that you will continue to do. We will be forever grateful. Thank you.”
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who made history as the first female presidential nominee for a major party in 2016, spoke about the arc of women’s political power: women winning the right to vote after Clinton’s mother was born, Rep. Shirley Chisholm’s groundbreaking presidential campaign in 1972, Geraldine Ferraro becoming the first woman to appear on a major party ticket in 1984 and her own groundbreaking campaign.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gestures to the crowd Monday night at the Democratic convention.
(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“It was the honor of my life to accept our party’s nomination for president. And nearly 66 million Americans voted for a future where there are no limits to our dreams,” he said, before urging delegates to work hard in the final months of the campaign. “Together, we put many cracks in the highest and hardest glass ceiling, and tonight, tonight, we are very close to breaking it once and for all.”
“And you know what? On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office,” Clinton said in a speech that was met with raucous applause and brought the crowd to its feet.
Before Biden spoke, many of Monday’s speakers struck a strong populist tone. Sean Fain, head of the United Auto Workers union, led the crowd in a chant of “Trump is a scam” as he praised Biden and Harris for joining striking workers and described Trump as a plutocrat, bent on helping “the other side.”
“We have to help her win, because we know that if Donald Trump is re-elected, he will sell out the nation in order to ‘line his own pockets and grease the palms of his friends on Wall Street,’” said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
Biden’s speech will mark the end of one of the most unusual months in modern American politics, as Biden, 81, was ostracized by his own party four weeks ago over concerns that he lacked the stamina to defeat former President Trump. Instead of speaking Thursday night, as a candidate, he will speak on inaugural night, before heading off to vacation in Santa Barbara County.
The party is now trying to celebrate, although it acknowledges that his departure has added excitement to a race that seemed headed for failure just four weeks ago.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who helped orchestrate the effort to persuade Biden to step down, called him “selfless” and “one of the greatest and most consequential presidents in the history of our country” while speaking to reporters Monday at the California delegation breakfast. “I just wanted to win this election,” she said, when asked about their now-frayed relationship.
Democrats plan to give Biden a hero's welcome, but he remains unpopular in the country as a whole: 38% of voters approve of him, compared with 56% who disapprove, according to the Fivethirtyeight.com polling average.
Biden hopes those numbers will improve in the coming years, as they often do with former presidents, when they retreat from the daily news cycle. Since announcing his departure from the campaign, Biden has sought to boost Harris by pointing to her legacy projects, including trillions spent on infrastructure, the social safety net and environmental projects.
