DNC’s First Night to Kick Off Joe Biden’s Long Goodbye

Joe Biden will take the stage in Chicago on Monday to be heaped with praise and shown the door. 

The first day of the Democratic National Convention is designed to highlight the sitting President’s accomplishments in office: improving an economy strained by the pandemic, corralling Republicans to sign off on $550 billion in new infrastructure investments, negotiating lower drug prices for seniors, freeing Americans and democracy activists imprisoned abroad.  

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Biden himself will make the case in primetime for why Vice President Kamala Harris is the best person to build on that work after he dropped his bid for a second term, says a White House aide. Biden will take jabs at Donald Trump, invoking the sputtering economy and the strained international alliances that Biden inherited from his predecessor and warning that Trump has said he will be a dictator on “day one.” Biden will also tout improved public safety, pointing to the higher murder rate under Trump and arguing that Biden-era investments in policing under the American Rescue Plan and gun reform have contributed to a national drop in homicides. 

But don’t expect a farewell address—Biden plans to save that for January, say people close to him. Instead, he wants to use his time on stage Monday evening to kick off the week’s events with a call to action. 

“The main reason he is there is to get everybody to understand how important this race is, how important the election is, and how important it is that Kamala Harris be the next President of the United States.” says Ted Kaufman, the former Senator from Delaware and a close friend of Biden’s.

Biden doesn’t plan to stick around for the rest of the convention. After his remarks, he is expected to leave Chicago and go on vacation for two weeks.

Democrats are preparing to fete Biden on Monday for his decision last month to step aside from seeking four more years in power, a move that came after weeks of pressure from party insiders.

“Here we’re seeing that baton passed. We’re seeing someone selflessly giving up the most powerful office in the world for the betterment of a party and for the betterment of America,” says Doug Jones, a former Democratic senator from Alabama and a close ally of Biden’s. 

The party is also expected to acknowledge Biden’s more than 50 years of public service. “It is a celebration of someone the Democratic Party can look to with great great pride, where the country can look too, or should look to, regardless of political persuasion, with some pride,” says Jones.

Biden’s departure from the campaign ended weeks of Democratic party infighting following his disastrous debate performance in late June. That setback forced Biden, 81, to make good on his campaign promise to be a “bridge” candidate to a new generation of Democratic leaders.

That passing-off-the-torch theme is reflected in the convention schedule. The ages of the week’s speakers is set to roughly shift from an older generation to a younger group of leaders. Hillary Clinton, 76 and the party’s 2016 nominee for president, will speak Monday before Biden. That will be followed on Tuesday by former President Barack Obama, who is 63. Then Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris’s 60-year-old pick for a running mate, speaks on Wednesday. Harris, 59, will accept the party’s nomination during prime time on Thursday night.

Even if Monday’s remarks aren’t a farewell speech, there were moments this month when it felt like Biden had begun his farewell tour. When Harris and Biden spoke Thursday in Largo, Md., about steps they’d taken through the Inflation Reduction Act to reduce drug prices, the crowd chanted, “Thank you Joe!” 

“There’s a lot of love in this room for our President,” Harris told the crowd as she handed the microphone over to him.

“I served in the Senate for 270 years,” joked Biden, who was sworn in at the age of 30 and represented Delaware for 36 years. “The longest time–I was too damn young. Now, I’m too damn old,” Biden said. 

Pointing to Harris, he added: “She’s going to make a hell of a President.”