By Andy Brack
I’m proud of Joe Biden. There, haters, I said it.
But you should be proud of the president, too.
Joe Biden, dogged this month by worries about the durability of his presidential reelection campaign, put our country before personal ambition to try to keep America on the path of being a real representative democracy.
Stepping away his reelection campaign was an act of selfless leadership that distinguishes Biden completely from his now-former opponent, America’s narcissist-in-chief. Former GOP President Donald Trump wouldn’t know selflessness if it hit him smack in the face with a cast-iron frying pan.
What Biden did by stepping away from the Democratic nomination and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris recalls actions of three former presidents, the first, second and the 36th, some of which was highlighted this week by historian Heather Cox Richardson:
“Biden followed the example of the nation’s first president, George Washington, who declined to run for a third term to demonstrate that the United States of America would not have a king, and of its second president, John Adams, who handed the power of the presidency over to his rival Thomas Jefferson and thus established the nation’s tradition of the peaceful transition of power. Like them, Biden gave up the pursuit of power for himself in order to demonstrate the importance of democracy.”
Biden’s intentional demonstration of putting country first also recalls President Lyndon Johnson. In the spring of 1968, he announced to much surprise that he would not seek reelection, which was not assured as America faced divisive fissures from the U.S. war in Vietnam and racial tension. In words thematically similar to some used this week by Biden, Johnson said then, “I do not believe that I should devote an hour or a day of my time to any personal partisan causes or to any duties other than the awesome duties of this office — the presidency of your country.”
In an address to the nation this week, Biden essentially turned the keys of our democracy to where it’s always been – with voters.
“We are a nation of promise and possibilities, of dreamers and doers, of ordinary Americans doing extraordinary things,” Biden said with conviction. “I’ve given my heart and my soul to our nation, like so many others. …
“The great thing about America is, here kings and dictators do not rule — the people do. History is in your hands. The power’s in your hands. The idea of America lies in your hands. You just have to keep faith — keep the faith — and remember who we are: We are the United States of America, and there is simply nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we do it together. So let’s act together, [and] preserve our democracy.”
Strong words that followed 41 months of strong action. And if you don’t believe Biden and his team have been successful in really helping a red state like South Carolina, there’s no refuting these compelling numbers:
— $5.4 billion in public investments in South Carolina manufacturing, infrastructure and clean energy, including $4.9 billion in funding for 337 infrastructure projects. Investments were in roads and bridges ($2.7 billion), public transit ($235 million), airports ($123 million) and ports and waterways ($22 million). Without Joe Biden, those investments wouldn’t have happened.
— $1.2 billion for affordable high-speed internet in the Palmetto State.
— $317 million for clean-water projects, including almost $100 million to replace toxic lead pipes.
— Big savings for 1.2 million seniors and Medicare beneficiaries on prescription drug costs.
— The state also has a 3.4% unemployment rate and 251,000 new jobs thanks, in part, to the administration’s economic policies that transformed a sputtering Covid-saturated economy into one targeted on more and better jobs.
If you don’t like Joe Biden, so be it. But you have to give him credit for a style of positive, heritage-inspired American leadership that’s been missing for awhile.
Andy Brack is editor and publisher of Statehouse Report and the Charleston City Paper. Have a comment? Send it to feedback@statehousereport.com.
