Joe Biden gave a speech the other night at the DNC convention in Chicago.
I can not exaggerate how much I think this speech was a lost opportunity for him to cement his legacy as one of the best presidents ever. I imagined a better speech for him. This is my version. Enjoy!
4.5 minutes of “Thank you Joe” chants. Great moment, let it die down on its own.
“Thank YOU America!”
(more applause and just wait for it to end)
“Please please, if you keep going I may get too old to give my speech.”
(wait for laughter)
“This is not the speech I wanted to give. I dreamed, my whole life, of being right here on this stage. I dreamed of accepting your nomination to be President of the United States. As we all know, the convention was remote in 2020 so it did not happen then. This was going to be my moment. My dream come true.”
“In the last few months I had been thinking deeply about this election and where we are as a country. Along with most of you, I was deeply dismayed and saddened – how have we become so angry? How have we become so dysfunctional?”
“I started thinking about my long career, my very, very, very long career. I have spent my entire life in public service, but I have not been the same person the entire time. I have gained wisdom and lost hair. I have gained experience and lost friends along the way.”
[insert a few minutes of stuff Biden accomplished]
“Then I thought about history. George Washington retired at 65, which back then would be similar to my own age. His supporters asked him to stay, to run for a third term. You have all seen the scene in Hamilton. George Washington is going ho-oo-ome.”
“Washington said no. He said that 2 terms is enough and we didn’t fight a revolution to end up with a lifetime king-president. We want to elect the person we think is best and then peacefully and orderly hand them the reins. This was not obvious at the time. It was a stunning and transformative moment when he decided to voluntarily step aside. George Washington on that day created our true core. This decision, made by one man, to value the future of America more than their personal power and ego, was one of our best moments as a nation.”
“In his farewell address, he warned against partisanship. I’m sure He would not be happy with how we have been treating each other. It was with these thoughts that I took stock of my own situation. My body was aging and I knew the challenge ahead was enormous. Washington’s voice rang in my ears.”
“What truly mattered to me? It wasn’t winning, although I wanted badly to win. It wasn’t being president, even though I admit that I love the job. It wasn’t beating Donald Trump, even though rarely has there been someone that needs beating as much as he does. It wasn’t any of these things.”
“It’s our future that matters. Why do we do any of this? We fight because we want the future to be better than or past. We want the climate to be better for our children. We want social justice to improve, we want the world to live peacefully in harmony. We want a better future. That’s what matters! This is why we govern, why we pass laws, and why we fight over these issues.”
“I made the decision to step aside because I am not more important than our future. I am just one man. I did all I could in the time I was given. I have been blessed with more success than most. I have been cursed with heartache too. I lived my life, and worked hard for my vision of a just America.”
“Our American experiment. This idea that all people are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – this is our vision. Once I realized that I was no longer the right the person to carry the torch for our movement, I thought about how many amazing leaders are here. People with so many different strengths. These are the people on stage this week.”
“But there was one person who stood out. If I was given a ballot of all of the people in the world, this was the person I thought would the best president. Coincidentally, I had a similar thought 4 years ago, when I chose her to be my vice president.”
(Applause)
“Kamala Harris was a prosecutor representing the people of California. She was an Attorneys General and Senator, representing the people again. She has been vice president working hand-in-hand with me for 4 years, learning every detail about the job. She is prepared, she is a leader, she has the vision, she has the drive.”
“Kamala Harris has incredible judgement, a complete grasp of the law, common sense values, and a strong progressive vision of the future. She will make every single American better off in the future, no matter what party they are in. In short, Kamala Harris is a world-class leader who will represent us and make us proud.”
“I am president of the United States. My responsibility is to the whole country; no matter if you are republican, democrat, independent, or don’t care about politics. I will look out for all of you and will continue to so until January 20th when I ride off into the sunset.”
“In that spirit, I tell all of America – Kamala Harris is the best candidate for president and she has more than earned my vote. I hope you see what I see and help make her your next President of the United States.”
“Thank you America, serving you has been the privilege of my life.”
(Play George Washington is going home refrain from Hamilton, but change the words to Joe Biden)
Ok, so it’s not perfect, but I wrote it in just 30m. Still, compare this to his actual speech and I think this version is much better.
What do you call this? Fan Fiction? Fan Speech writing? Is this a genre? 🤔
Don’t forget to vote this November. Vote up and down the ballot. The future belongs to those who show up.
Whatya think?