The Difference Between the DNC and the RNC
To begin with, one is about America, and the other is about Trump.
The difference between the DNC and the RNC was stark. The RNC was a love fest for a convicted felon who has no regard for, let alone understanding of, the U.S. Constitution. In contrast, the DNC was a celebration of a man who devoted 50 years to protecting our nation’s guiding document, creating a stark contrast in the tone and atmosphere of the two events.
The RNC praised a man who disgraced himself and the nation by trying to hold onto power illegally, and the DNC praised a man who willingly (although it understandably hurt his ego to do so) stepped aside to pass the torch to a younger generation because he wants to protect our country from the rising tide of right-wing fascism. President Biden, aware that he would not be having many more chances to address the nation, used his opportunity yesterday to remind the country just what he managed to do for us despite following the worst presidents in our history — and despite the simple fact that the Republican Party of his days in the Senate is now a Christo-fascist one if not a full-on cult obsessed with a rapist and a felon.
“It’s been the honor of my lifetime to serve as your president,” he said in a 52-minute speech capping the first night of a convention celebrating the nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to be his successor. “I love the job, but I love my country more. I love my country more. And all this talk about how I’m angry at all the people who said I should step down — it’s not true.”
At that point, the crowd chanted, “We love Joe! We love Joe!”
“I love my country more,” Mr. Biden repeated, “and we need to preserve our democracy (The Speech Biden Never Wanted to Give).”
President Biden still wants to run for re-election, and we all know it. This is why his decision to step aside for the good of the country is so truly historic. I wrote an article in July, I Love Joe Biden, but I Love America More. I then wrote a letter to President Biden and also sent him that article. I like to kid myself that he read it and then made his decision. I like to imagine that he found that phrase about loving him but loving America more appealing — maybe he did read it, maybe a speechwriter read it and found the sentiment a winning one. I don’t know, but Joe Biden’s presidency was the kind that permitted me — any of us — to imagine that we were being heard.
For the first time in my life, I honestly felt like a president understood what was going on with the people around us. I loved Obama, but in ways that Obama couldn’t know because of his youth, Joe Biden had seen it, lived, and tried to solve the problems through the power of the government for most of his life. Because I felt like he “got it,” I felt like he was listening. Sure, it is naive to think that Biden opened up a letter from me and with his reading glasses hanging off the tip of his nose, ingested my thoughts and words, agreeing at times and feeling a mild sting of rejection at others. But I think he was capable of such behavior because Joe Biden cares about us — about America.
The first night was supposed to make Joe feel better and show him how much we love him. It seems the Democrats succeeded.
“We are forever grateful to you,” Ms. Harris said in a brief speech earlier in the evening.
“Thank you, Joe Biden, for your leadership,” said Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York.
“Thank you, Joe Biden, for your lifetime of service and leadership,” said former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, a close ally of the president, led the crowd in chants of “We love Joe!” to warm it up for his arrival (The Speech Biden Never Wanted to Give).
Biden reminded Americans why he ran in the first place. By running through a litany of Trump’s greatest-worst hits, Biden let us know how hard his job was following such a nightmare. He was also letting us know what awaited the country if we didn’t come together and fight for Kamala Harris’s election in November.
It was a bittersweet speech, but it was just one more that shows us how lucky America has been to have Joe Biden contribute his two cents over the last half-century. It would have been amazing to have him around for another four years, but it just didn’t seem humanely possible, so that meant that Trump could win. We will miss Joe.
There will be more such speeches between now and January 20th. I look forward to them all.