Welcome to a special edition of From the Policy Desk, bringing you highlights from the first day of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
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Biden sings an ode to Harris in his political swan song
By Jonathan Allen and Natasha Korecki
CHICAGO — In a political swan song less than a month after abandoning his campaign for a second term, President Joe Biden on Monday praised his presidency and urged fellow Democrats to help elect Vice President Kamala Harris as his successor in November.
“Join me in pledging your whole heart to this effort — my heart will be here,” Biden said on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention.
In speeches that ended well after midnight on the East Coast, he highlighted a long list of accomplishments, from major infrastructure and climate change legislation to lowering prescription drug prices for seniors and fighting the Covid pandemic.
Biden received a thunderous standing ovation, chants of “Thank you, Joe” drowned out his attempts to begin his speech, and thousands of “We ❤️ Joe” signs waved as he was introduced. Monday was a bittersweet moment for a party seeking to elevate Biden and turn the page from his past to his future after reaching out to him a few weeks ago. then he started talking more than four minutes of applause.
After he left the campaign and confirmed that he would go to Harris, Democrats began to honor him — a process that ended Monday when thousands of delegates embraced their winter lions with applause. Giving up his position to improve his chances of defeating former President Donald Trump was, many Democrats said, the ultimate act of political altruism.
“I think the dedication is hard to put into words,” he said. Casten said Biden has given his life to public office, peaked and stepped aside. “We don’t get many examples of that in American history.”
Read more from Jon and Natasha →
Hillary Clinton hopes Harris will pick up where she left off
By Alex Seitz-Wald
CHICAGO — Earlier in the night, Hillary Clinton took the stage in a suffragette white dress and passed the torch to a woman she hoped would do what she couldn’t — become the first female president of the United States.
“The future is here,” Clinton said to sustained applause. “I wish my mother and Kamala’s mother could see this.”
Eight years after her crushing defeat in the 2016 presidential election, the former senator and secretary of state put herself and Harris on the long story of the women’s rights movement, from the passage of the 19th Amendment to this November’s election.
“The story of my life and the history of our country is that progress is possible. But it’s not guaranteed,” Clinton was the first woman to be nominated for the presidency by a major party. “We have to fight for it. And never, ever give up.”
Some women in the audience at the United Center, including Harris’ running mate Gwen Walz, wife of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, could be seen shaking their heads as she wiped her eyes and joked that Clinton had mocked her and Harris. ‘ he laughs.
When he mentioned Trump and his felony conviction, the crowd responded with “chants.”close it” — an ironic twist on the slogan Trump supporters used against Clinton eight years ago. He smiled and nodded before continuing.
Follow the rest of the night with our live blog →
Democrats salute Biden for complicated place in history
By Chuck Todd
Despite the applause, let’s not pretend this wasn’t an awkward and bittersweet moment for Biden. I have spent my entire professional life (now over 30 years) watching, reporting and watching Biden make his way to the Oval Office. I’ve seen him try and fail … a lot. Obviously, it was his Holy Grace. No matter how many times his presidential ambition was thwarted, he always wanted to come back and try again.
Here’s the reality: Biden will be a one-term president, and history judges one-term presidents pretty harshly. With the exception of historians who think of the era of James Polk, every president in the history of our republic who has stuck to the one-term pledge became a one-term president at the whim of voters or party leaders. .
Many people outside the first family are trying to shape Biden’s place in history. Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went so far as to suggest that Biden could belong on Mount Rushmore. Of course, it’s hard to take his suggestion seriously – I’m surprised the party leader is trying to placate an old friend he knows is angry about the role he played in getting him out of the race.
Tim Walz, 60, said Biden was the best president of his life. How many Americans would choose Biden over Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama?
The thing is, the Democratic Party is full of hyperbole about Biden as he prepares the emotional padding for the soft landing that justified his extraordinary speech. Whether it’s true or not, on a human level it’s the right thing to do. No one wants to see their life’s work consigned to the dustbin of history.
Biden will be a one-term president because the public has lost faith in him. Some people may have liked him and wanted Biden since the Obama years, but have lost faith that Biden can get the job done. Perhaps others have lost faith in him because they think he is too much of a progressive leftist. Others may have lost faith in Trump because he has not successfully consigned him to the ash heap of history.
Perhaps the expectations that Biden could turn the country around on Trump were too high — though Biden fed those expectations himself. But this means that the country’s expectations have not been fulfilled.
The lingering question about Biden’s legacy is whether he did anything any Democratic president wouldn’t do. Does he have a Biden-specific job?
🗞️ Other top stories tonight
- 💻 Hack update: The US government has confirmed claims that the Trump campaign was hacked by Iranian hackers. More →
- 🩺 Check: In an interview with CBS News, Trump said he would make his medical records public. More →
- 🚫 Bad blood: Trump shared AI-generated images of Taylor Swift and her supporting fans on social networks. Swift endorsed Biden in 2020 and has been a vocal critic of Trump. More →
- 🪑 Seating chart: Walz’s Minnesota delegation was pulled from the convention stage a bit more than expected for the VP candidate’s home state. That’s because Minnesota has the largest block of “unthreatened” delegates. More →
- 📱 New frontiers: Harris launched a bilingual WhatsApp channel targeting Latino voters, a first for a presidential election, the campaign said. More →
- 🤳 Like and Subscribe: More than 200 influencers will attend the convention this week with special “creator credentials” that will give them special access. More →
- 🗳️ Voice tracking: Georgia’s Board of Elections has adopted a new rule that could give county election administrators additional options to delay certification. More →
That’s all for the Policy Desk for now. If you have feedback – like it or not – email us politicsnewsletter@nbcuni.com
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