Biden and Harris start their transition

Joe Biden gave his (main) acceptance speech on Saturday after the major networks recognized his electoral victory in Pennsylvania. Much to his credit, he had come out earlier to affirm he was clearly on track to win the votes and to insist that all ballots be counted. Kamal Harris introduced him with a speech of her own.

Both speeches were solid examples of a good performance in the particular moment of acknowledging victory and giving a celebratory feel with conciliatory rhetorical gestures toward the LOSERS. Even Abraham Lincoln in the conclusion his Inaugural Address of March 4, 1861, when the Confederate status were already in open military rebellion, struck a famously conciliatory note in his conclusion:

I am loath to close. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battle-field, and patriot grave, to every living heart and hearthstone, all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.

What the Confederate side did in response to Lincoln's rhetorical olive branch was to fire on Fort Sumpter and initiate a full-blown war. He even later conceded that he perhaps should have been less conciliatory in the days that followed his inauguration. But the conciliatory posture was in the Inaugural Address was good statesmanship and good politics.

PBS Newshour's transcript is here.

Harris's speech was mainly celebratory and focused on introducing Biden as a promising and decent President. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris delivers speech ahead of Joe Biden ABC News 11/07/2020:

She also rightly stressed the significance of her election as a black, South Asian woman:

Asian, White, Latina, and Native American women throughout our nation’s history who have paved the way for this moment tonight.

Women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality, liberty, and justice for all, including the Black women, who are too often overlooked, but so often Prove that they are the backbone of our democracy.

All the Women who worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century: 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act, and now, in 2020, with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard.

This is a democratic (small-d and large-D) way to celebrate real democratic progress while recognizing it was achieved through serious effort against real obstacles.

She gave the following policy signals:

No matter who you voted for, I will strive to be the Vice President that Joe was to President Obama — loyal, honest, and prepared, waking up every day thinking of you and your families. Because now is when the real work begins.

The Hard work. The Necessary work. The Good work.

The essential work to save lives and beat this pandemic.

To rebuild our economy so it works for working people.

To root out systemic racism in our justice system and society.

To combat the climate crisis.

To unite our country and heal the soul of our nation.

The road ahead will not be easy.

But America is ready. And so are Joe and I.

I do have a reservation about the "brunch liberalism" style she uses in this speech, celebrating her personal example for women and minorities but not mentioning any commitment to policy initiatives to expand opportunities for women or recognize particularly challenges of the pandemic and the depression that have disproportionately negative effects for women. Sarah Palin and Joni Ernst are also examples of women who achieved notable fame and success in politics while committing themselves to policies that reduce women's opportunities and restrict their rights.

Also, when if ever will the Democratic Party revive the fight for the Equal Rights Amendment?

Biden jogged onto the stage to deliver his speech. Joe Biden's full speech after becoming president-elect ABC News 11/07/2020:

PBS Newshour's transcript is here.

Biden's speech included these passages:

I pledge to be a President who seeks not to divide, but to unify.

Who doesn’t see Red and Blue states, but a United States.

And who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people.

For that is what America is about: The people. ...

It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric.

To lower the temperature.

To see each other again.

To listen to each other again.

To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy.

We are not enemies. We are Americans.

Muna Duzdar, a Social Democratic Member of the Austrian Parliament, translated a few of those lines into German for an 11/08/2020 Facebook post.

Of coure, there has been no sign from the Republican Party or their Great Leader the Mango Mussolini that they intend to present anything but fundamental opposition to the Biden-Harris Administration.

Biden did mention some important themes, and even used the word "mandate":

Now that the campaign is over — what is the people’s will? What is our mandate?

I believe it is this: Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness. To marshal the forces of science and the forces of hope in the great battles of our time.

The battle to control the virus.

The battle to build prosperity.

The battle to secure your family’s health care.

The battle to achieve racial justice and root out systemic racism in this country.

The battle to save the climate.

The battle to restore decency, defend democracy, and give everybody in this country a fair shot.

Our work begins with getting COVID under control.

The Democratic base has a real challenge in holding Biden and the Democrats in Congress to the program they ran on. But Donald Trump is on his way out of the Presidency.