“Here and now, I give you my word,” Biden said. “If you entrust me with the presidency, I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not of the darkness.”
He added: “United we can, and will, overcome this season of darkness in America. We will choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.”
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Questions linger over the level of enthusiasm and excitement around Biden, a 77-year-old white male moderate. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll last week found that 58% of registered voters who support Biden say their vote is more an expression of opposition to Trump than support for the Democrat. Bret Stephens, a conservative columnist at the New York Times, recently wrote that supporting Biden is about “embracing mediocrity to ward off malevolence”.
Daniel McCarthy, New York Times:
The overemphasis on the nominee’s family this last night of the convention made it feel like Biden is running for grandpa, not president. It’s a sign of how weak Biden and his program are: His campaign depends on sentiment, Covid-19 and Trump.
“American history tells us that it’s been in our darkest moments that we’ve made our greatest progress,” Biden said, invoking the legacies of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the late civil rights icon John Lewis. “I believe we’re poised to make great progress again. That we can find the light once more.”
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To the great relief of Democrats, the four nights saw no major technical glitches.
Still, there were more than a few jarring moments when Thursday night’s hostess, actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, interspersed serious-minded policy discussion and other sober segments with jokes that fell flat.
