This Just In – Joe Biden‘s address to the Democratic national convention was hailed as a triumphant, swan song summarizing a great American story of public service and sacrifice.
Such an odd feeling, but I have to say I was disappointed. I watched the speech, hoping for something that would reflect an unbelievable moment in American history. Put simply, I was hoping for a commencement address, not a résumé recitation.
Biden reviewed his many accomplishments and described with great passion the argument for preventing Donald Trump from getting anywhere near the oval office again. (Left to me, he wouldn’t be allowed on the public tour, much less the West Wing.)
He transitioned into explaining why his vice president, his chosen successor, is absolutely the best person to take over as he steps away from the campaign.
This is all very pro forma, but in this unique political moment, this person with more than 50 years of achievement and participation in American history could have looked out over this convention and into the camera to the nation and spoken on a very personal level about his story.
He could’ve talked in much more personal detail about the profound value of his personal relationships within the party and across the aisle. I have no doubt he could’ve done this with great specificity – probably some surprising names and explaining that that personal connection is what changes the room and persuades a crowd and changes a nation.
He could’ve talked in Chicago about how it was to serve in the Senate at the same time as Illinois Senator Carol Moseley Braun and North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms.
He could remind everyone about the story of Jesse Helms, joking with Senator Moseley Braun in the Senate elevator about trying to make her cry by whistling Dixie. He could talk about serving with segregationists and describe how, bit by bit, their intolerance became intolerable.
He could talk about the progress that’s been made in American political life since those days. He could talk about the presence of women in the Senate and the changes that have happened in the culture of the Senate since women arrived, and that Republicans would like very much to return to how it was when Joe Biden arrived.
As important as it is to focus on moving forward, Biden could have reminded everyone watching of the value of knowing that in his lifetime John Lewis had his skull cracked open on the Pettus bridge and endured that abuse so that he could become a distinguished member of Congress and a great leader in the civil rights movement. Then he could talk about the need to pass the John Lewis Voting Rights Act, and that he’s proud that Kamala Harris is going to be the president who signs that bill into law.
He could’ve said that Harris‘s joyful candidacy is the next level of standing up to bigotry and hatred. He could point out that America has seen dark days of the threat of fascism and authoritarianism with the rise of Joe McCarthy in the 1950s. Only sunshine and transparency ended that grim threat to our republic.
Instead of banging his fist on the podium to say there’s no place for political violence he could have reminded everyone that violent acts to silence political leaders are acts of terrorism and that we must not shrink in fear in the face of such cowardice. We must strengthen our bonds of common purpose as a bulwark to protect our republic.
I wish that Joe had talked about political participation at a personal, granular level. I wish he had acknowledged that every person in the crowd in Chicago started their political awareness and participation in some small way, and then it grew into coming to a national convention.
There is a through line from John Kerry selecting Barack Obama to give the keynote speech at his 2004 convention all the way through to this moment. Kerry chose Obama, then Obama chose Biden as his VP and Biden chose Harris as his #2.
On opening night, we saw many bright young faces who are taking the party forward.
That process of cultivating leadership and building consensus is the soul of America that Biden is trying to preserve, protect and defend. Politically, he has done the equivalent of throwing himself on a grenade to save his unit. He is demonstrating political character and patriotism in the most spectacular fashion – the platinum standard for generations to come.
I wish, in other words, that President Biden had done something more along the lines of what Barack and Michelle Obama did on the DNC’s second night. He should have spoken more from his heart than from his resume. It’s a good heart inside a great patriot and I’d like to see it more clearly.
(featured image: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Jean Bolduc is a freelance writer and the host of the Weekend Watercooler on 97.9 The Hill. She is the author of “African Americans of Durham & Orange Counties: An Oral History” (History Press, 2016) and has served on Orange County’s Human Relations Commission, The Alliance of AIDS Services-Carolina, the Orange County Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, and the Orange County Schools’ Equity Task Force. She was a featured columnist and reporter for the Chapel Hill Herald and the News & Observer.
Readers can reach Jean via email – jean@penandinc.com and via Twitter @JeanBolduc
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