By Sofia Villa
26 Jul 2024, 05:16 AM EDT
It’s a difficult fight when we feel the sun on our backs and we still have a long way to go. That’s the feeling left by Joe Biden’s speech explaining how he had to step aside and leave the race for the presidency of the United States in the hands of younger generations.
With the grandeur of those who recognize that it is no longer their time, Biden said goodbye to the campaign with which he intended to complete eight years in the Oval Office. And although he did not say anything that we did not already know, in his televised speech, in prime time, very well scripted to avoid new stumbles in his image, he explained why Kamala Harris is taking the reins of the Democratic campaign in the elections of November 5.
Biden was showered with criticism, including from this column, asking him to acknowledge that he had nothing more to contribute, because these times of post-pandemic and political polarization need brilliant minds like his, but fresher and more agile.
The irony is that he is leaving because of criticism of his eighty-year-old age, but he leaves his opponent, Donald Trump, in the same storm. He has already completed 78 winters, making him the longest-serving candidate for the presidency of the world’s leading power.
President Biden showed greatness in recognizing that we need new, fresh, younger voices and that after more than 50 years of practice in the political capital of the world, youth does matter, as demonstrated by the choice of the Republican Party’s vice presidential candidate JD Vance. Although being under 40 years old makes him a first-timer in partisan politics.
Biden was emphatic when he acknowledged the honor with which he closes the chapter of his professional and public life in the iconic White House, this after his time in Congress, where he then met another rookie who invited him to form the winning formula: Barak Obama. For example, both faced the debates to save the 2008 financial crisis that threatened to end the world economy.
In his speech, Biden sounded candid when he said in a personal note that despite having been a stuttering child in a town in Pennsylvania, he became the leader. However, the speech was not a farewell, as he clarified that the task is not over and in the semester he has left to complete the mandate to which he was elected, he will concentrate on attacking inflation and will focus on the legislative agenda.
So there is nothing left to say, thank you and goodbye Mr. President.
As an author, Sofía Villa writes this column in a personal capacity and her opinions do not represent those of Televisa-Univision, where she works as an Assignment Manager.