"Setbacks are unavoidable," Joe Biden told a Rose Garden audience and nation on TV, "but giving up is unforgivable." So went the valediction of [checks notes] the first major-party elected nominee to give up his slot before the election. Voluntarily, or so the story goes.

Of course, Biden also credited Kamala Harris as having a "ramrod" spine, two days after [checks notes] Harris ran away from her own rally and sent an aide to thank her supporters for showing up. Ahem, indeed.

On the other hand, one has to be grateful for Biden's gracious words about the coming transition. We didn't get that eight years ago, when Democrats spent the time after Election Day accusing Donald Trump of being a Russian agent, and we sure didn't get that four years ago either. Biden expressed a desire to "bring down the temperature" this time, which certainly should earn him kudos from all sides. And, as valedictions and legacy-framing speeches go, Biden had the good sense to keep it brief:

Given that the audience at the White House was mainly family and staffers, Biden tried to put the best spin on a deeply unpopular presidency. The work that they did together, Biden promised, made this a "historic presidency," which [checks notes ... ah, never mind] might end up being true for all the wrong reasons. He urged his staff and supporters to get back into the fight, telling them that getting knocked down comes with the territory, but getting back up is what brings success. 

If that sounds like a pop song from the 1990s, you'd be right. For the most part, the speech was filled with platitudes like this, at least when Biden wasn't bragging about creating the strongest economy in the world. (More on that in a moment.) However, platitudes are probably what his staffers and supporters need today. It certainly beats the massive onslaught of internecine blame-throwing that has already erupted among Democrats, most of which is performative, as I'll address in a later post. 

In all fairness, Biden got the job done in temperature-lowering as well as despair-soothing. No one can begrudge a president from offering his perspective on his term after voters just delivered a harsh judgment. And at least Biden had the good sense to refrain from calling American voters "garbage." This time, anyway.

We didn't address Kamala Harris' concession speech yesterday, but it essentially did the job ... and not much more. Time Magazine has the transcript, or you can watch the video:

Harris' speech lasted a little longer than Biden's, but it was essentially a Chumbawumba valediction as well. Harris did include an explicit concession, which is what the moment required. It came at about the halfway mark of a defense of her defense of her campaign and her pledge to keep fighting:

My allegiance to all three is why I am here to say, while I concede this election, I do not concede the fight that fueled this campaign—the fight: the fight for freedom, for opportunity, for fairness, and the dignity of all people. A fight for the ideals at the heart of our nation, the ideals that reflect America at our best. That is a fight I will never give up.

Chumbawumba, baby! It's also a fight she'll have to carry on by herself, because Democrats will never nominate her for a competitive election again. But still, Harris met the moment yesterday, sufficiently and succinctly. She crafted a speech for her supporters, not as courtroom testimony, and to defend herself from the recriminations that will be coming from all points of the political compass. That's exactly what I'd expect under the circumstances.

Biden's speech did better at unity rather than rehashing the campaign agenda, but at least Harris conceded. 

So for an alternative viewpoint, here's my pal Tony Katz, who called Biden's speech "obscene" and "insane." He erupted when Biden bragged about his work on the economy, and while I wasn't on screen at the time, I was laughing at both Biden and Tony in the virtual green room. He and I discuss the speech, and also the results of the election and what's still left to come. 

LIVE - Biden Talks Transition to Trump...and More? https://t.co/LJLv5nfdVR

— Tony Katz (@tonykatz) November 7, 2024