DECEMBER 4, 2020 –
Yesterday evening I listened to CNN’s Jake Tapper interview Biden and Harris. Their joint appearance revealed how their remarkable partnership is developing—for the good of the country.
I must confess that in early Democratic debates, Biden didn’t form a positive impression with me. He looked “over the hill,” a bit of a fumbler, just not up to the enormous job to which he aspired. I wasn’t sure about Harris either. But then came Biden’s victory speech after his wins on Super Tuesday, which all but cinched his nomination. I didn’t much care who had written it. He delivered it with heart, conviction, and commitment. He spoke as a real president would. And as the vice presidential nominee on the campaign trail, Harris demonstrated positive qualities I hadn’t fully appreciated.
Since November 3, Biden has demonstrated repeatedly not only that he’s not “over the hill” and not a fumbler but exactly the kind of leader that this country desperately needs in its current crises and travails. Kamala Harris is an extraordinary bonus. In her we have more than a “vice president” without influence. We have an “associate concertmaster”—Joe Biden’s stand partner, to use an image from the symphony stage. In their joint interview, Biden and Harris revealed convincingly—in their responses and interaction—that they read off the same sheet of music. These two players share a common philosophy of government, common set of morals and ethics, common approach to policy.
And what beautiful themes and harmony the stand partners projected from the stage! Speaking in complete, well-constructed sentences, they conveyed not empty platitudes but organized thoughts on matters of serious concern to all Americans. They exuded integrity, confidence, competence, humor, empathy, urgency, genuineness, spontaneity, and pragmatism. They’re what I’d call, “determined centrists” and hardly the “dangerous socialists” that rightwing disinformation outlets insist on labeling them.
Perhaps the central take-away from their joint appearance was Biden’s statement of what will be the administration’s triadic theme: 1. Decency; 2. Revitalization of America’s middle class; and 3. National unity. As to unity, Biden stressed his determination to reach out to those who hadn’t voted for him, and his response to Tapper’s questions spoke to all Americans, not just a “base.” He also mentioned the pressure that he’ll face from multiple advocacy groups—and acknowledged that “their job is to push me.” Significantly, his acknowledgment wasn’t the least bit defensive or adversarial.
Biden possesses the personal attributes that form the core of mature, effective leadership. He’s not the least bit full of himself. Age and experience have produced an elder stateman, not a myopic curmudgeon mired in his rose-colored, long-term memory.
Perhaps as the Biden/Harris gets underway, some of those in Trumpland and a few more in Progressiveland will see and hear that the concertmaster and associate concertmaster are leading a transformation of national cacophony into social harmony; vituperative dissonance into constructive discourse.
I for one am now feeling hopeful, despite all the reasons not to be.
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© 2020 by Eric Nilsson
