Vice President Kamala Harris swept into the spotlight last week, clinching her party’s nomination in a matter of days, but Democrats’ cheers were met with boos from Republicans.
So many questions remain: Will former President Trump debate Harris? Who will Harris choose as her running mate?
But it’s also a very personal moment for those who no longer have tickets.
“There is no place on earth where a child who stuttered, coming from humble beginnings in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Claymont, Delaware, can one day sit down behind a desk in the Oval Office and become President of the United States,” President Joe Biden said in an address to the nation last Wednesday. “And here I am.”
Asked about the impact of Biden’s decision to drop out of the race, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said, “It’s been tough. It’s been tough to see Joe Biden looking at where we are and where he is. This is one of the most moving, selfless acts I’ve ever seen by an elected leader. The power of the presidency, the potential of the presidency is incredible. And then to step away from that and say, ‘The work has to go on, but it’s not my job to finish it,’ and hand it off to your trusted vice president, that’s very hard.”
Coons is one of President Biden’s closest confidants in Washington. He even sits at Biden’s old desk. But a missed phone call last Sunday got Coons the news when the rest of us did.
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“I flipped my phone over and the president was just calling,” he said. “So I got up, went outside and called him back. He wanted to talk to me before the public. We talked all weekend. And it was a very heartfelt conversation.”
“Some Democrats close to the president feel betrayed by the way this has unfolded. They feel betrayed on his behalf, and they feel like he’s been pushed aside,” Costa said.
“It’s been a very difficult few weeks as people have become more and more vocal about the urgency of this decision, first privately, and then publicly,” Coons said. “And then when I finally spoke to my campaign co-chairs, and then to the senators who, like me, were deeply committed to continuing to campaign for Joe Biden,[we were]very angry and hurt.”
“He said he wanted a second term, and he made that very clear,” Costa said.
“I really wanted a second term!” Coons said, laughing. “And a lot of us were very excited about the prospect of a second term.”
“Are you disappointed that some Democrats are so biased?”
“At this point, my feelings are just gratitude for Joe Biden’s service and the selfless decisions he’s made. I think it’s in the best interest of the country,” Coons said. “He clearly understands how much this election is at stake.”
In a speech from the Oval Office last week, President Biden said Supreme Court reform remains at the top of his agenda.
Coons will join Biden tomorrow in Austin, Texas, at the LBJ Library to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act.
For Mr. Biden, this is another opportunity to remind Americans that he began his term and will end it by insisting that democracy be protected.
But now all eyes are on Vice President Kamala Harris.
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Story created by Ed Forgotson. Edited by George Pozderec.
Robert Costa
