A Case of the Mondays
There has been a lot of chatter on the political right about the speaking role Joe Biden had at the Democrats’ convention in Chicago. And most of it is wrong.
“What a show of disrespect,” they say, “pushing poor old Joe off the ticket, then relegating him to the first night of the convention. He deserves better,” they say, with mock indignation.
Regardless of the party, it’s actually traditional for the outgoing incumbent president to speak on the first night. They in essence say their farewell, allow the convention hall to be full of cheering and accolades, and as that president leaves, he hands things over to his successor symbolically and literally. Then the rest of the convention is about the future, the next nominee.
So in that respect, how Joe Biden was treated by having him speak on Monday is not only not a slight, but actually tradition.
What was a slight—whether deliberate or through massive incompetence—was having him not start to speak until it was nearly midnight in the East Coast, about an hour behind schedule. And that was after bumping two congresswomen and legendary singer James Taylor from the list. No serenade of “You’ve Got A Friend”—and they were still an hour behind before Biden got on stage.
When he finally did speak, he simply gave the speech he planned on giving on Thursday to accept the nomination, with a few paragraphs tossed in about his successor.
What has made this convention not about the new face of the party is trotting out old faces like both Obamas and both Clintons. Is their endorsement of Harris helpful, or simply to remind us of old folks from a past era?
The purpose of this convention was to simply shore up the base. So far, it looks like Democrats have fallen in line. The fight for independents—the ones who will decide the election—starts next week, because they’re not watching this week…just like they weren’t watching the RNC a month ago.
