There was a silver lining to the forced cancellation of former vice president Joe Biden’s planned rally Tuesday night in Ohio. Speaking from Philadelphia’s National Constitution Center in front of campaign team members and the media, he could use a more conversational and intimate tone. That demeanor and the absence of a raucous crowd suited his message. (Should other rallies be canceled, it would be unfortunate, but if Tuesday night’s remarks were any indication, Biden might be more effective in relative isolation.)
Biden spoke to the party as a whole in calm tones more akin to a fireside chat than a political victory speech. In stark contrast to the tenor of his opponent’s campaign, Biden was magnanimous. "I want to thank [Vermont Sen.] Bernie Sanders and his supporters for their tireless energy and their passion," he said. “We share a common goal, and together we’ll defeat Donald Trump.” Sanders, not known for being a team player, would be wise to exit now, declining to replay his role of sore loser in 2016; Biden, however, is not about to push him out.
Biden continued: “Tonight, we are a step closer to restoring decency, dignity and honor to the White House. That’s our ultimate goal. And at this moment, when there’s so much fear in the country and there’s so much fear across the world, we need American leadership.” He added, “We need presidential leadership that’s honest, trusted, truthful and steady, reassuring leadership. If I’m given the honor of becoming your president, I promise you I’ll strive to give the nation that very leadership every day, every day I have a privilege to hold office.” Normalcy, decency, competence. That sounds just fine to ordinary voters, not the faux-revolutionary Bernie Bros seeking to ditch capitalism.
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Biden and his supporters understand something Sanders has never grasped: To enact progressive change, you have to win first. “I believe we’re in an incredible moment in American history, a phenomenal opportunity to deliver a bold, progressive vision to the American people,” Biden said. “Guaranteeing that every American has health care, affordable health care, total health care, not a privilege but a right.”
Follow this authorJennifer Rubin's opinionsIn words equally applicable to his primary opponent and Trump, he declared:
But winning means uniting America, not sowing more division and anger. It means having a president who not only knows how to fight, but knows how to heal. It means, replacing a president who demeans and demonizes people with a president who believes in empathy, compassion, and respect for everyone. It is my hope that the days of divisiveness will soon be over. We’re a decent, brave, resilient people. We are better than this moment we’re in. What we have to do, we just need, we just need to remember who we are.
This was Biden at his best and at his most presidential. He also reaffirmed that his policy ambitions are bold and progressive. Contrary to the Sanders (and media) argument, he is not advocating a return to the status quo. He reeled off his agenda: expanding Obamacare; giving “every child access to good education regardless of their zip code” and addressing the depravity of subjecting “our children who have to learn as they go to school, little children, to duck and cover, zigzag down a hallway because they fear someone with a semiautomatic weapon may be coming in”; tackling climate change; and casting aside “Donald Trump’s America First policies [that] made America alone.” Biden can achieve progressive goals widely shared in the party because he can get elected.
Sanders compulsively picks fights, even with the Democratic Party, rendering him unable to do the one thing a nominee must do: bring a party together. Biden showed the largeness of spirit necessary to do precisely that. Biden offers a presidency about values and policies not about veneration of a narcissistic, deeply unfit president.
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