So long, Joe. Democrats relegate their longtime leader to DNC’s opening act.

Democrats are wasting no time putting President Joe Biden out to pasture.

The Democratic National Convention, which kicked off Monday in Chicago, highlighted the Democrats’ outgoing party leader on the first night of the nominating confab. And they couldn't even let Biden speak during prime time, when most viewers are watching. He didn't take the stage until nearly an hour later than scheduled.

This is very different than Biden thought things would go a month ago.

Before the president announced on July 21 that he would step aside from the presidential race to crown Vice President Kamala Harris as his heir apparent, the convention was going to be all about him .

How quickly things can change.

By scheduling Biden on the first night of the convention, Democrats can conveniently put the past behind them and continue their newfound love affair with Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz .

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I feel bad for Biden. Don’t you?

Harris will cap off the convention with her Thursday address. And it will be much-watched, I’m sure ‒ and as Harris supporters would say, full of "joy."

But Biden got the opposite treatment Monday night and probably wasn't feeling too joyful.

In their reshuffling post-Biden’s dropping out, convention organizers and party bosses have done everything in their power to paint the president as a figure of the past.

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And by slotting him on opening night, they created as much distance between Harris and Biden as they possibly can.

Symbolically, that seems like a major slight to Biden. Typically, the excitement at a convention builds the closer it gets to the official acceptance speech of the presidential nominee, and the caliber and prominence of speakers rises as a result.

Other party big shots who will speak on subsequent nights include former President Barack Obama (Tuesday) and former President Bill Clinton (Wednesday) .

Didn’t Biden deserve a little better treatment?

He is still president after all, and Harris owes him a lot. She didn’t have to go through the primary process thanks to him, and his moving out of the way so late in the game pretty much sealed Harris' nomination.

The least Harris could have done would be to have given Biden a more prominent speaking assignment. For instance, he could have introduced her on Thursday.

No such luck.

Biden’s not even sticking around Chicago

Biden is getting out of Dodge as fast as he can after his speech, heading instead on vacation in California .

Biden's quick exit could indicate a couple of things, or perhaps a mix of both.

One, Biden is holding onto some (deserved) bitterness about how those he thought were his friends in the party ditched him in the end, including Obama and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi .

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Second, Harris realizes that Biden has become politically radioactive and wants to create as much separation between the two as she can, given they are still running the country together (purportedly).

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Now, I called out Biden’s obvious decline long before Democrats and others in the news media did. And I think Biden did a disservice to the country by delaying his departure from the race and preventing a true contest for the nomination.

However, it seems likely that Biden’s family, his advisers and friends – even Harris – didn't tell him the hard truth that he needed to call it quits long before he did.

Democrats, especially Harris, have to know how hard this has been on Biden. The least they could have done was show him true respect as he heads for the door.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @ Ingrid_Jacques

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: So long, Joe. Democrats relegate their longtime leader to DNC’s opening act.