Dems give a thunderous ovation to the president they dethroned

CHICAGO — For nearly an hour Monday night, President Joe Biden basked in the applause of Democratic convention-goers — even if the adulation was as much about his decision to step aside as his own career or record.

And when his speech finally concluded well past midnight in the Eastern Time Zone, the 81-year-old president embraced both Kamala Harris and the role he’d long resisted: passing the baton to his vice president to finish the campaign to defeat Donald Trump again.

“I love the job,” Biden told the packed arena. “But I love my country more.”

Relegated to the Democratic convention’s opening night, Biden used one of his final opportunities to address a major national audience to highlight his administration’s record, ticking off a laundry list of achievements. He hugged Harris at the end of his speech, cementing his blessing on her historic bid for the White House and completing a stunning switch atop the Democratic ticket that nearly tore apart his party — and then upended a presidential campaign.

Yet those emotional moments obscured a more complicated reality, as many of those chanting “Thank you, Joe” inside the United Center were the same Democrats who pushed the president off the ticket less than a month ago. And while Biden was hailed Monday for his selfless decision to step aside for Harris, his initial efforts to hold onto power nearly tore his party apart and risked giving Trump, the Republican nominee, a glide path to the White House.

These party divisions were buried beneath a blizzard of “We Love Joe” signs and a several long ovations during the first night in Chicago, a joyous evening meant to send Biden off with gratitude. But because the night fell so far behind schedule, Biden himself didn’t take the stage until nearly 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time, a delay that rankled some of his Democratic allies.

The president, clearly emotional, wiped away tears with a handkerchief after being introduced by his daughter Ashley. But as he turned to his prepared remarks, he sounded mostly defiant, sternly touting his record — from the economy to climate change to crime — and unable to hit the notes of joy that have become the trademark of his vice president’s campaign. But he also made a point of including his running mate in the acclaim.

“Thank you, Kamala, too,” said Biden at one point, correcting the crowd after another chant of “Thank you, Joe.” Later, he declared “We’ve had the most extraordinary four years of progress ever. When I say ‘we,’ I mean Kamala and I.”

Biden spent much of the speech highlighting the threat he argues Trump poses to the nation’s future. He slammed his Republican rival for pushing baseless claims of election fraud and for insulting war veterans.

“Donald Trump calls America a failing nation. He says we’re losing,” Biden said. “He’s the loser. He’s dead wrong.”

Biden then delivered a series of broadsides against his former opponent on matters like immigration and abortion, and sharply echoed one of the night’s themes that Harris was well-suited to take on a candidate with a criminal record.

“It’s time to put a prosecutor in the Oval Office instead of a convicted felon,” Biden said.

The night was a mix of elation and relief, with many Democrats fearful that November might have been a ballot-wide wipeout had Biden remained atop the ticket. Now, they believed with renewed energy, the party could unite behind a younger, vibrant Harris and keep the White House.

But for an evening — Biden’s opening night speaking slot itself a sign of how quickly the party is determined to turn the page — the focus was on the president, whom many Democrats feel posted a legislative record meant to be discussed in the same breath with Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson.

He took the stage to cheers that rang out for more than four minutes, and many on the floor were seen wiping their eyes as Biden gave the capstone speech to a career in politics that spanned more than five decades. His remarkable political life, one marked by tragedy and resilience, began with his election to the Senate in 1972 only to be blackened by the death of his wife and daughter in a car accident just weeks later.

He then spent decades as a lion of the Senate before serving eight loyal years as vice president to Barack Obama. More family tragedy — the death of his son Beau — seemed to bring an end to his political career before Trump’s 2016 victory moved him to re-enter the fray. And then, after staging a remarkable comeback in the Democratic primaries, he defeated the incumbent president in 2020 and spent four years leading the nation out of a pandemic while managing two foreign wars and battling inflation and bitter partisan politics.

But instead of accepting a nomination for a second term on Thursday, Biden was reduced to being an opening act on Monday.

His dizzying fall from power began after his faltering performance in his debate with Trump in June led to an unprecedented revolt in his own party, one that culminated in some of the Democrats’ biggest names coming to the conclusion that Biden was simply too old to win again.

Biden fought that push, before bowing to the political realities of fading fundraising and poor polling. He has remained unhappy with the process that led to his exile, even as he has vowed to help Harris and promised to be the “best volunteer” the Harris campaign had ever seen.

The president and first lady set off for vacation in California immediately after leaving the United Center. But a loud reminder of the challenges Biden has passed to Harris was marshaled just a few hundred yards from the arena: thousands of protestors, marching and chanting in a display of anger over the White House’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and the resulting human rights situation in Gaza. Biden will also hand her broadly unpopular policies on immigration and inflation.

But in total, Biden’s move to step aside for Harris has reinvigorated his party’s chance to win. The vice president’s surge in the polls — and record-breaking fundraising — has expanded the party’s Electoral College path and its chances at winning one or both chambers of Congress.

After Biden lays low for the rest of the month, the president and his senior advisers have fixated on the finishing touches of his career in the weeks ahead. Aides have plans for him to hold a few, newsy events in the weeks ahead, capped off by a farewell address in January, as many in the West Wing are deeply consumed by Biden’s legacy.

They view Harris’ run as a final critical chapter of Biden’s history — and one that hinges on beating Trump and becoming the nation’s first woman president. A defeat, they realize, could rewrite that legacy, with Biden being painted as an unpopular president who cost his party a winnable race.

But Monday was a salute to the president. Chants of “We love, Joe” periodically erupted. Staffers handed out signs with “We (heart) Joe” on it. More than half the crowd stood for the duration of his more than 50-minute speech. And many members of the Biden family crammed into seats in the Delaware delegation to watch the speeches.

The president was introduced by the combination of First Lady Jill Biden and then his daughter. And a number of the speakers paid tribute to Biden, including Harris, who made a surprise appearance early in the night and declared, “We are forever grateful to you.”

“He brought decency, dignity and competence back to the White House,” former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said from the stage. “Thank you, Joe Biden, for your lifetime of service and leadership.”