After an interminable delay, President Joe Biden finally took the stage Monday on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention, declaring that ‘democracy has prevailed.’
Ironically, he handed his party’s nomination to Kamala Harris, a candidate who had earned precisely zero votes – and whose previous bid for the White House imploded well before the first votes were cast.
Four years after setting records by winning more votes than any other U.S. presidential candidate and less than a month after his ‘voluntary’ withdrawal from the presidential race (a contest where he had received more than 14 million votes), Biden delivered a fiery, near hour-long stemwinder before being shuffled aside in every sense of the word.
Instead of an entire convention to nominate him for a second term, Biden’s speaking slot was the proverbial kiddie table, stretching well past midnight and happening three days before his second-in-command took the stage.
It was an unthinkable series of events prior to the June debate, an ignominious and humiliating ending for a man who has been a fixture in Democratic circles for more than half a century (literally, folks, as Biden would say. He won his first term in the U.S. Senate in 1972 – the same year as Richard Nixon’s landslide reelection).
Now, his future, ‘holds a presidential library and retirement in Delaware,’ as Axios put it.
Along the way, Biden was subjected to such over-the-top tributes and ‘tears of joy’ (in the words of Sen. Amy Klobuchar) from many of the same people who not long ago were colluding behind closed doors to kick him to the curb.
Take former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Weeks after orchestrating the plot that led to Biden’s exit, Pelosi suggested his likeness belonged on Mt. Rushmore. The two have reportedly not spoken since the incident, and the president remains ‘unhappy’ about events, according reporting from the New York Times. Hard to blame him, and not something the ‘We Heart Joe’ sign the former speaker was spotted holding Monday night will make up for.
Speaking of the Gray Lady, after running not one but two separate editorials urging him to step aside, they lauded Biden for putting, ‘the national interest above his own pride and ambition,’ when he heeded their call.
Or his former governing partner, Barack Obama, who, eight years after discouraging his second in command from seeking the presidency against Hillary Clinton in 2016, was said to believe that Biden needed, ‘to seriously consider the viability of his candidacy’ after the June debate.
With friends like these, it’s no wonder the Bidens are jetting off to California rather than sticking around Chicago.
For all the talk about Harris’ ‘joy’ and the Democrats’ momentum, remember this: Joe Biden beat a talented field of candidates in 2020, including the person vying to replace him. The last Harris presidential run was so lackluster she dropped out in December 2019 – more than a month before the first voters were cast.
In that sense, she shares a place in history with Biden, who was forced to withdraw from his first presidential bid in 1988 amid plagiarism allegations after only three months as a candidate.
As vice president, the early reviews on Harris were rough. The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend that Democratic lawmakers and donors questioned keeping Harris on the ticket’ with Biden.
It took two more tries for Biden to win the big prize, a valuable reminder that running for the highest office in the land is not easy. Only 46 people in American history have accomplished the feat, including the Republican nominee and the man who took the stage last night for the Democrats.
As the festivities kick off in Chicago, Biden can say he kept his promise (albeit unwillingly) about serving as a ‘bridge’ candidate. It’s still an open question about where that bridge leads.