Biden promises a healing presence in speech praised by left and right

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Bret Baier, Martha MacCallum, Chris Wallace react to Joe Biden's address to Democratic National Convention

Former Vice President Joe Biden accepts the Democratic Party's nomination for president.

Back in 2007, before his last run for president imploded, I bumped into Joe Biden in a green room and asked him how the campaign was going.

“If I am the right man for these times,” he said with a distant gaze, “it will become known.”

He wasn’t, and it didn’t, but I was struck by the philosophical resignation that a successful quest for the land’s highest office depended on forces beyond his control.

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Many Democrats believed in 2020 that Biden was not the right man for these times, that in fact his time had passed. But there was some quality in this battle-scarred politician who has seemingly been around forever that enabled him to outlast his 23 primary rivals. Whether he is the right man for a general election, whether he is a man who can defeat Donald Trump, remains the biggest question in politics.

In the most forceful and steely speech of his career, the former vice president spoke of bringing light to the “season of darkness,” his metaphor for Donald Trump’s tenure, of hope and healing, vowing to be an American president working hard for those who don’t support him.

The strongest theme of the Wilmington speech by far was Biden’s melding of family, with an emphasis on his lost loved ones, and the healing of the country. He declared, in what would have been applause lines had there been a crowd, that “character,” “compassion,” “science” and “decency” were on the ballot.

There was a heavy emphasis on the toll of Covid-19, the millions of lost jobs, and then the laundry list of liberal causes.

Biden made an explicit appeal to combat racism, invoking Charlottesville, invoking his talk with George Floyd’s young daughter, and accusing Trump of fanning the flames of “hate and division.”

The 77-year-old nominee usually has a folksier style, but his dead-serious demeanor seemed an effort to project strength and determination. It was a speech that drew high marks from Fox News panelists as well as gushing praise from MSNBC’s liberal crew. Even those who don’t like Joe, or don’t like his plans to raise taxes on the rich or spend big on climate change, saw a superlative effort (and good speechwriters).

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The entire day before Biden’s address was consumed by a media debate over Barack Obama’s Wednesday speech. The attack by 44 on 45 was so unprecedented, along with the dire warning about democracy being at stake, that it reduced Kamala Harris’ debut to a mere sidebar.

Think about that: The spotlight shifted from the first black woman on a major party ticket, who almost everyone said would be a key factor in Biden’s race, to a man who is constitutionally barred from running again.

Many liberal pundits raved about the Obama address. The speech “slayed me,” said Rachel Maddow, and his warning “scared me, and I found upsetting and hard to watch.”

But other voices were put off by the former president. In the liberal Atlantic, Russell Berman says that “Barack Obama didn’t try to inspire Americans,” but rather “wanted to scare them.” While that is a common tactic in campaigns, he writes, “Obama, suddenly a gray-haired father figure to his party, no longer sounded merely disappointed—he seemed frightened.”

Whatever the takeaway, Obama also tried to vouch for Biden as his former boss, but that got less time and far less attention.

It was, on Thursday night, up to Joe Biden himself to make that case--and withstand the inevitable onslaught as Trump and the Republicans command the virtual stage.