Biden Accepts Nomination, Promises to Be a President for All Americans

Nearly 50 years after he first got elected to the U.S. Senate, Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president, promising to "represent all of us, not just our base or our party," offering himself as a stark contrast to the current occupant of the White House.

Biden declared "this is not a partisan moment, this must be an American moment" and said "hope is more powerful than fear." He pledged to lead the nation through the pandemic, economic turmoil and the partisan divide that has characterized the last four years.

"If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us not the worst. I will be an ally of the light not of the darkness," he said.

Without ever mentioning Donald Trump by name, Biden sought to firmly differentiate himself from the current president: "United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege."

Standing before a bank of U.S. flags without an audience, Biden gave a forceful case for himself as the person who could reverse what he said was the nation's declining status in the world and a lack of concern for each other across partisan differences.

The speech felt more like a somber and sober Oval Office address than a typical convention speech with obvious applause lines.

He made clear that his top priority will be the nation's health: "As president, the first step I will take will be to get control of the virus that's ruined so many lives," he said.

The speech at times also showed how far Biden has been pulled to the left by events and challengers like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren who promised to raise taxes on the wealthy.

"I'm not looking to punish anyone. Far from it," Biden said. "But it's long past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share."

In winning the nomination, Biden overcame a sluggish start to his campaign, as well as doubts about his ability to excite voters. He earned a smashing victory in the February 29th South Carolina primary with the help of Black voters, which narrowed the field to just him, Sanders and Warren.

After a series of last minute endorsements from his vanquished foes, Biden crushed his remaining opponents on Super Tuesday in places like Texas, Massachusetts and Minnesota, defying expectations and essentially putting the race out of reach.

It was a remarkable comeback for a guy many had underestimated and written off. His selection of Sen. Kamala Harris was both historic and an expression of appreciation for his longstanding relationship with and support from the Black community.

Like the previous three nights, Thursday night’s program underscored Biden’s decency and empathy. One video emphasized his and Jill Biden’s respect and care for military families and their sacrifices.

He was introduced by his son Hunter and his daughter Ashley who also paid tribute to their late brother Beau. The introduction included a clip of Beau giving a speech about their father at the 2012 convention.

Given the severity of the wildfires burning across the state, Gov. Gavin Newsom, who had been scheduled to speak in prime time, decided at the last minute not to participate in a planned segment in which he would banter with Sen. Cory Booker.

Instead, Newsom recorded a two-minute video Thursday afternoon using a cell phone in the Santa Cruz forest after visiting a Red Cross evacuation shelter.

Wearing a crisp white button down shirt with towering trees behind him, Newsom’s focus was climate change as it related to California's battle with wildfires. He noted that President Trump had threatened to withhold federal emergency disaster funds for the state "because we hadn't raked enough leaves. You can't make this up," he said. It aired just before 6 pm PT, a far cry from the coveted spot he gave up.

However, given the multiple crises facing the state – wildfires, a heat wave and a pandemic that’s killed more than 11,600 Californians with no end in sight – the governor would surely have faced sharp criticism for appearing to put politics ahead of governing. The video struck a middle ground.

The remote nature of this week’s convention in some ways helped disguise policy disagreements between different segments of the Democratic Party.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Fremont, who co-chaired the California delegation to the convention, voted against the party’s platform because it excluded support for Medicare for All.

"I do think there are philosophical differences in the party," Khanna said on KQED’s Political Breakdown on Thursday. "Dissent is healthy. And it would be wrong to paper over those. But those differences can be aired and debated once we win."

Khanna, a rising star in the party’s progressive wing who co-chaired the national campaign of Sanders, echoed criticism of some who complained that this week’s convention gave too much attention to mainstream Democrats, and even Republicans.

Khanna said he hopes the Biden/Harris campaign reaches out to some of the party’s younger talent, such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Michigan’s Rep. Rashida Tlaib.

"I guess I would just say that the talent of a lot of these younger members isn't being fully used," Khanna said. "They not only have a way of speaking that connects with young progressives, they also have the platforms on Instagram Live, Facebook and Twitter. And I think they could have had a bigger role at the convention for them. And my hope is that they'll engage them going forward to really get the youth vote out."

While Khanna obviously preferred Sanders or even Warren to the man who won the nomination, he said that will not diminish his enthusiasm for the ticket.

“So I'm 110% behind Biden and Harris. And I respect his right to run on whatever platform he won on. But as a party, we should be for Medicare for All," Khanna said.

Newsom wasn’t the only Californian to make an appearance at the convention. Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha sat down with their daughters Riley and Ryan for a video in which they said “we’re voting for Joe Biden.”

The video, called "Keeping Faith w/ the Currys", featured a conversation with the young daughters about politics, the importance of women having a seat at the table and their own faith. It culminated with a mini shoulder shimmy by the Warriors MVP.

Oakland-based Democratic consultant and Warriors superfan Addisu Demissie, who was tapped by the DNC to help orchestrate this week’s highly produced and highly unusual convention, said he has no doubt the party made the right decision not to try and salvage a scaled down in-person version of the convention in Milwaukee.

"I know this was the right decision, starting from the vice president on down,” Demissie told KQED, “because we basically had a public health check-in every day with our folks on the campaign, doctors in Milwaukee, public health officials in Milwaukee, and political leaders in Wisconsin to decide how much to sort of go virtual versus do in person."

California Secretary of State Alex Padilla, appearing with Michigan’s top election official Jocelyn Benson, noted that despite President Trump’s threats to cancel the election, “he can’t” but said the president was trying “to distract and confuse voters.” He urged people to “make your plan to vote” well before the election.

While the convention won plaudits for essentially making lemonade out of the lemons of a pandemic, the television ratings were sharply lower than four years ago. It will take a few days to see whether the Biden/Harris ticket will see the traditional bounce in polls that candidates usually receive after a convention.