Joe Biden-The Embodiment of the American Dream
On Wednesday night of July 27th, Vice President Joe Biden delivered the best (and hopefully not last) speech he’s ever presented to a large Democratic audience. With his undeniable passion, strength and motivation, he once again showed us why he was the perfect running mate for President Obama and a great Vice President for the United States of America.
In contrast to President Obama’s elegantly rational address, Vice President Biden’s speech was one heavily tainted with fierce passion and patriotism. His oration strayed from the conventional restrictions of typical political statements and instead became an utterance from the bottom of his heart. Like always, Joe Biden is one of the few politicians that seems truly humanized and relatable to the public. As we all know, Joe Biden is a man of numerous personal tragedies, having lost his first wife and his daughter to a car crash forty-four years ago and also his son Beau to cancer just last year.
Biden begun his speech with a heartfelt tribute to his beloved son, who first introduced Biden as Vice Presidential nominee eight years ago. Memories of the last convention stirred emotion in many hearts, but Biden’s whirlwind of unbounded pathos was just beginning.
Our Vice President continued to frame his address with references to the typical American working class family with dreams of making it big through integrity and honest work. Everybody knows that teacher who “(takes) money out of their own pockets to buy pencils and notebooks for the students that can’t afford them” or “the kid in Claymont with the most courage”, who eventually became a cop because he had a passion for helping those in need. That’s the America that Biden loves. With the comprehensible examples that supported his well-written speech, Biden won the American heart.
The next portion of his speech was dedicated to the humanization of Hillary Clinton. Biden skillfully described Clinton as a fighter who truly understands the importance of college education and the need to help those in despair. He wasn’t talking about Hillary Clinton, the powerful high-end Washington politician that walked straight out of House of Cards. Instead, he was talking about the Hillary Clinton, that tough, intelligent woman who fought and is still fighting all her life for the America and the American Dream that she loves so fiercely. As Hillary confirmed in her memoir Hard Choices, Biden is that true gentleman who always sympathized with her values and respected her beliefs. Biden is that one friend who will not only stick to your side, but can also eloquently tell us why.
Nevertheless, the true climax of this speech happened with his unforgettable attacks on Republican nominee Donald Trump. This was a memorable climax because again, Biden was not reading an official statement approved by the White House from the teleprompters. Biden was not speaking as the second most powerful man in a country of millions. Biden was speaking as the man who fought all his life to create a wonderful legacy for America’s future, as the hero who built a tomorrow that neither his infant daughter nor his loving son will ever see. Biden, our very own “middle-class Joe”, is the living definition of the American Dream, and he does not want to see that dream destroyed by hate and demagoguery. He believes the American people will make the right choice, and certainly used powerful rhetoric to persuade them to do so.
Nevertheless, the essence of this speech was not in the praise of Hillary or the disapproval of Trump. His true message came near the end. Biden wanted to tell the American people that they should never give up anything and instead must be proud of the country that they worked so hard to construct together. When Biden tells us, “We lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example” and that “We are America, second to none. And we own the finish line!”, he is instilling a renewed sense of faith and hope. He wrapped this historic convention speech with these passionate statements that are bound to serve as American inspiration for generations to come.
By Margaret LU, USCNPM Contributor
