The speech that Joe Biden will deliver Monday evening at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois was not the one that the president originally had in mind.
With COVID turning the DNC 2020 into a virtual affair, this week's convention would have been the first where Biden accepted his nomination as the party's presidential nominee in person. He would have been celebrated with pomp and circumstance, embraced by Democratic hopes that he secures a second term, following the footsteps of his predecessors Barack Obama and Bill Clinton.
That was the plan up to July 21, the day Biden announced that he was fulfilling his promise to be a "transitional" leader and endorsed his Vice President Kamala Harris to take his place. Until that point, his team had been crafting a DNC speech to celebrate what the president has accomplished during his first term and galvanize support to "finish the job."
Now he must take on the challenge of addressing a party who by all accounts has shown that it had been ready to bid farewell to the 81-year-old president long before he was ready to exit the stage. A party whose unenthusiasm about the race had turned into alarm since his dismal debate performance in June. A party who immediately energized around his younger vice president almost the minute Biden announced he was not seeking reelection, rapidly reversing the Democratic ticket's poll numbers in less than a month.
Facing this reality with equanimity and grace is tough for anyone. It may be especially difficult for Biden who has been in politics for five decades and has sought the presidency since his first run for the White House in 1988.
In an interview with MSNBC weeks before stepping aside Biden said he was "getting so frustrated" with the party elites. "Any of these guys don't think I should run? Run against me. Go ahead and announce for president. Challenge me at the convention," he said, visibly irritated.
On Monday Biden will face a "historically unprecedented situation," said Thomas Schwartz, presidential historian at Vanderbilt University.
"He is a one-term President who was forced off the ticket by the leaders of his party, - [former House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi, Obama, [Senate Majority Speaker] Schumer, and [House Speaker Hakeem] Jeffries – now asked to make an enthusiastic endorsement of his vice president," Schwartz told VOA. "It doesn't take Sigmund Freud to realize that Biden may have some very conflicted feelings."
The only Democratic president in modern times who tried and failed to earn a second term was Jimmy Carter, who lost against Ronald Reagan in 1980. The only other Democratic president who initially sought reelection but withdrew from the race was Lyndon Johnson in 1968, over protests of his Vietnam war policy.
Magnanimous leader
Democrats have revered Biden as a magnanimous leader who put country before his own political ambitions. With four weeks to process the reality that he will not be at the top of the Democratic ticket, he is expected to play his part to elevate Harris on Monday.
In a preview of what may come Monday evening, on Thursday during Biden and Harris' first joint appearance to promote the administration's efforts to lower prescription drugs prices, both leaders praised and applauded each other. Their speeches were interrupted with chants of "Thank You Joe," from supporters.
Biden must show that the decision not to run for a second term was "reached on his own accord," said Jennifer Lawless, professor of politics at the University of Virginia. This is key to invalidate Republican talking points geared to undermine Harris and sow division among Democrats that he was "forced out" and that the nomination was "stolen" from him, she told VOA.
The Republican nominee, former President Donald Trump had suggested that Biden might stage a surprise appearance at the DNC to reclaim the nomination.
"What are the chances that crooked Joe Biden, the worst president in the history of the US, whose presidency was unconstitutionally stolen from him by Kamabla, Barack Hussein Obama, Crazy Nancy Pelosi, Shifty Adam Schiff, Cryin' Chuck Schumer and others on the lunatic left, crashes the Democratic National Convention and tries to take back the nomination, beginning with challenging me to another debate," Trump wrote in a social media post, misspelling Harris' first name. "He feels that he made a historically tragic mistake by handing over the US presidency, a coup to the people in the world he most hates, and he wants it back now."
That's unlikely to happen. Instead, by supporting Harris, Biden will aim to burnish his own legacy – his domestic legislative achievements, foreign policy record and possibly his role as the leader who in the minds of Democrats once again saved the country from Trump, this time by passing on the torch.
"In many ways, Biden's legacy depends as much on Harris's success as on Biden's legislative accomplishments," Lawless said. "And Harris's success depends on an enthusiastic and unified party. So their incentives are aligned – showcase the unified front that exists."
Asked by reporters Friday what his message is to Democrats, Biden answered simply, "Win."
