Washington, Aug 20 (IANS): The US President Joe Biden Biden passed the torch to his deputy and Democratic nominee for President Kamala Harris on the first day of the party convention with a forceful pitch for a Democratic ticket while the former First Lady Hillary Clinton passed on to the Vice President the unfinished business of shattering the ‘hardest glass ceiling’ of American politics.
“Kamala and Tim Walz (Minnesota Governor) understand that this nation must continue to be a place of possibilities, not just for the few of us, but for all of us,” Biden told the Democratic Party, which is holding a convention in Chicago.
Biden said that Kamala is tough, experienced and has enormous integrity, adding that picking her to be his running mate in 2020 was the best decision he made during his career.
Kamala was present at the arena for Biden’s speech along with her husband Douglas Emhoff and Tim Walz and his wife Gwen Walz. The Vice President also addressed the delegates briefly ahead of Biden’s speech and thanked the President for his ‘historic’ leadership and a lifetime of service to the nation.
The Vice President is all set to speak at length on Thursday, the last day of the convention, to accept the party’s nomination for President.
President Biden spoke forcefully for around an hour in which he also detailed his administration’s achievements, reminding delegates many times that Kamala shared the credit for them - capping the price of prescription drugs, such as insulin, strengthening NATO, appointing the first African American woman to the Supreme Court, and ‘beating’ big pharma.
This convention was supposed to nominate Biden to seek a second term but was overhauled around Kamala who took over the Democratic ticket after the President was forced to quit the race following the debacle that was his first presidential debate in June.
He ended his campaign in July and endorsed Kamala, who has re-energised the party. Biden’s speech marked the end of his political career and the passing of the baton in the Democratic Party to Kamala Harris and the next generation.
“America, I gave you my best,” Biden said, repeating a line he used in his inaugural address in 2021. Biden was preceded by Jill Biden, his wife, and Ashley Biden, their daughter. The First Lady could be seen tearing up during her husband’s speech.
Biden’s speech was preceded by repeating cheering and chanting of “Thank you Joe”, which was echoed by several speakers. “Thank you, Joe Biden, for your leadership,” Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand member of the House of Representatives from New York said in her speech.
Former First Lady Hillary Clinton too joined in and spoke more eloquently about her run in 2016 as an attempt to shatter one of the most enduring glass ceilings in American politics — one that has prevented a woman from ascending to the top of US politics as President.
“Tonight, so close to breaking through once and for all. I want to tell you what I see through all those cracks and why it matters for each and every one of us,” the former First Lady said.
“On the other side of that glass ceiling is Kamala Harris raising her hand and taking the oath of office as our 47th president of the United States,” Hillary Clinton said to loud cheers from the delegates.
The former Secretary of State who lost to Trump in the 2016 White House has used the glass-ceiling phrase several times, going back to 2008 when she lost the Democratic Party nomination to Barack Obama.
“Although we weren't able to shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling this time, thanks to you, it's got about 18 million cracks in it. And the light is shining through like never before, filling us all with the hope and the sure knowledge that the path will be a little easier next time. That has always been the history of progress in America.”
In 2016, after losing to Trump, she said, “Now, I - I know - I know we have still not shattered that highest and hardest glass ceiling, but someday someone will and hopefully sooner than we might think right now.”