Biden pitches his vision of hope to a United States torn by partisanship

There was a striking religiosity to Joe Biden’s speech to the Democrat National Convention last night. He never spoke Donald Trump’s name, referring only to “the President” if he had to, but instead spoke of light and darkness. He opened with a quote from civil rights activist Ella Baker: “Give people light and they will find a way.” He then proclaimed: “The current president has cloaked America in darkness for much too long.” Biden, of course, promised to be on the side of the light.

It was a speech designed to build up two contrasting visions of America, embodied by two distinctive figures. It was almost Manichean. Indeed, throughout the speech Biden stood in constant and implicit juxtaposition to the President. Trump was defined by his egotism and cruelty, Biden by his capacity for empathy. To illustrate this contrast, Biden took a moment to speak to those who had lost a loved one to coronavirus, speaking of his own grief-filled past with tears in his eyes.

His campaign even found a way to showcase his skill at forging personal connections with voters – something the pandemic has curtailed. Before Biden spoke we were treated to a recorded message from 13-year-old Brayden Harrington about how Biden, as a stutterer himself, had advised Brayden on how to overcome the issue. The message again offered an implicit contrast between Biden’s deep personal decency and Trump’s egotistical cruelty. But it also cunningly pre-empting Biden’s occasional hesitancies when speaking, which opponents have pounced on as evidence of waning mental faculties.

Biden said character and compassion was on the ballot and his campaign was keen to show it off.

However, Biden also offered more than that – he offered a plan.

Regarding the pandemic, inevitably front and centre in the speech, Trump might be hoping for the virus to disappear like a miracle. Here Biden assured his listeners that “no miracle is coming”. Instead of hoping for the virus to go away, Biden promised action. On the first day of his presidency, he will implement a national strategy that would bring the pandemic under control through rapid tests, domestic production of PPE, and a national mask mandate.

For the economic recovery, Biden had a plan as well and invoked FDR’s New Deal. For the young, he offered better and cheaper education; to the old, he pledged a defence of Social Security and Medicare. For all, he offered jobs based around a massive infrastructure and clean energy programme. Out of the darkness of the pandemic and recession, he promised America could reach the light again.

Inevitably, Biden also spoke of race and here he presented the choice between light and dark again. He claimed that the 2017 rally in Charlottesville, where far-right and neo-Nazi demonstrators created chaos and caused the death of one peaceful counter-protestor, was the last straw for him. While Trump had spoken of the “very fine people on both sides” of the clash, he said that he was inspired to run for the Presidency.

Biden also spoke of his conversation with George Floyd’s daughter – and amid the despair he expressed hope that racism could be overcome.

Yet a tension haunted the vision of hope offered in Biden’s speech. Even as he spoke of the great divides which cut through the American political landscape, Biden also spoke of unity. He is openly nostalgic for the bipartisanship of an earlier age. His proclamation that “America isn’t just a collection of clashing interests of Red States or Blue States” recalled Barack Obama’s early promises to unite the nation.

Yet, speaking at the convention the night before Biden’s big keynote address, Obama himself seemed to hold little hope for that vision anymore. Biden, it seems, still does and ultimately his call was – even if no miracle was coming – to have faith.