{"id":3291,"date":"2024-08-25T15:01:45","date_gmt":"2024-08-25T22:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/?p=3291"},"modified":"2024-08-25T15:01:45","modified_gmt":"2024-08-25T22:01:45","slug":"passing-the-torch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/?p=3291","title":{"rendered":"Passing the Torch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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My husband Jonathan and I had recently left the Denver airport and were driving along Highway 70 on the first day of our vacation hiking in the Rockies when the texts started pinging.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jonathan checked my phone, and there was the news we\u2019d been hoping for: President Biden had stepped aside. The 27 minutes between his announcement and subsequent endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris had not yet elapsed, but by the time we stopped for lunch, Biden had passed the torch and the $96 million in the campaign chest to his VP. The cafe we chose had good chili and a comfy reading nook. There on the shelf was Kamala\u2019s Way<\/em> and Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future<\/em>, by Pope Francis. \u201cFrom the Pope\u2019s lips to God\u2019s ears,\u201d I said to Jonathan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now five weeks later, the Democratic Convention has just ended, converted quickly from what likely would have been a valiant but manufactured attempt at optimism to through-the-roof euphoria. On the first night, ear-splitting enthusiasm rocked the rafters as just about everybody\u2019s lips sang the praises of not just the newly formed Harris-Walz ticket, but also and especially of President Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThank you, Joe!\u201d chanted the first-night crowd as they waved signs that reinforced the message. The ever-snarky New York Times<\/em> political reporter Peter Baker wrote, \u201cThey were thanking him, yes, for what he accomplished during a lifetime in public service. But they were also thanking him, let\u2019s be honest, for not running again.\u201d He\u2019s not wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of a long night, President Biden delivered his farewell address–reworked just a little, it seemed–from the acceptance speech he had hoped to give at the Convention\u2019s crowning event. It was a poignant moment, and also a reminder that had Convention Joe shown up to the debate, he would still be the nominee, and we\u2019d likely be Ridin\u2019 with Biden over the cliff to defeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most moving part of Biden\u2019s speech came near the end, as he quoted a verse from a song treasured by his family:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

What shall our legacy be,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What will our children say?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me know in my heart when my days are through,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

America, America, I gave my best to you.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He did, over and over again,\u00a0culminating in this final act of stepping aside. President Biden left the stage, left Chicago for a vacation in California, left the torch in the able and willing hands of a new generation of talent with an incredible candidate leading the way. Thank you, Joe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now it is Kamala\u2019s way, a path to a better future. But let\u2019s not just dream or pray about it\u2014let\u2019s work hard to make it happen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My husband Jonathan and I had recently left the Denver airport and were driving along Highway 70 on the first day of our vacation hiking in the Rockies when the texts started pinging. Jonathan checked my phone, and there was … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":false,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[527,833,834],"class_list":["post-3291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political","tag-democratic-convention","tag-biden-steps-aside","tag-kamala-harris"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2F8Ch-R5","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3295,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3291\/revisions\/3295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shrinkrapped.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}