Civil unrest. Unwarranted aggression from law enforcement directed towards black men. COVID-19. With all of that going on, it seems odd to write that things are looking up…but they are.
I’ll paraphrase scripture to drive my point home: weeping may endure for a night, but Joe comes in the morning! And he’s bringing a strong cuppa Kamala with him.
This January, our long national presidential nightmare will end when President Elect Joseph Biden is sworn into office. Biden’s known for gaffs behind the mic — whether live or not! — and he may not be the candidate that everyone wanted. But he’s a damn sight better than Donald Trump, who as I write this is still contesting the results of the election, like a little kid who’d lost a playground contest and just couldn’t admit defeat.
Sadly, that’s not a bad analogy. Sometimes, I think that the last four years have been a game to Trump. But the game’s over. We won the battle for the soul of the nation when we elected Biden and Harris.
Throughout the campaign, Biden spoke passionately about his ability to reach across the aisle and form alliances with people with whom he’d disagreed. But rarely have I seen someone walk the talk as Biden did when he named Senator Kamala Harris as his running mate.
Harris had been Biden’s chief opponent during the early stages of the Democratic primaries. I’m sure you remember that “That little girl was me” moment when Harris challenged Biden’s record on busing back in the 1970s. That was the moment when my support for Harris as the presidential nominee waned. It’s politics, I know, but I thought that was a cheap shot.
Biden went on to secure the nomination, but their relationship, even having been preceded by Harris’s friendship with Biden’s son Beau, was left strained.
Which is why I had to give it to Biden for choosing Harris as his running mate. She was, quite frankly, the best person for the job. The nation agreed with me, to the tune of over seven million votes. And I don’t remember the last time a presidential candidate offered the VP position to his chief rival. Hell, President Obama didn’t do that for Hilary Clinton in ’08! Secretary of State, sure. But not VP.
Read freelance writer MPC’s full column here, or look for it in the Winter issue of The Hub magazine in January.
Michael P Coleman is a freelance writer who, as a kid, talked to strangers and got punished. Today, he talks to strangers and gets published. Follow his blog, his IG and his Twitter.
