Change has come again
In his now famous 2008 victory speech, president-elect Barack Obama beautifully referenced Sam Cooke’s immortal civil rights anthem with the phrase: “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight […] change has come to America”. Indeed, a change had (finally) come then, as it has come again yesterday.
24 hours ago, as results for the state of Pennsylvania were revealed at long last, it became mathematically certain that Joe Biden was to become the 46th president of the United States, making Donald Trump a one-term president — and, hopefully soon, ancient history. While the significance of Obama’s 2008 victory was obvious to anyone with eyes — and ears, this new presidency comes with its own set of symbols. In many ways, 2008 was a fundamentally positive event (for progressives): the triumph of hope, the beginning of a better — should we say, an even better — era for America, sub-prime crisis notwithstanding. In contrast, 2020 sounds more like the triumph of relief: not quite the beginning of an eminently and positively new era, rather a return to a time when politics was a (relatively) reasonable game and politicians were (more or less) decent. Not exactly the same level of aspiration, more like a Get out of jail free card.
Yet, in many aspects, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris’ victory is a major landmark in US history, and therefore the world’s. First, quite obviously, Biden is a strong candidate for progress: he’s on board to fight climate change, he wants to end systemic racism, he aims to reduce inequalities… While some may find that he doesn’t go far enough (see: AOC’s timely reaction against the Democratic establishment), this is already a giant step forward after 4 years of absurdity and confusion — and it may very well be the best next step in a highly divided country. Second, the Biden-Harris ticket is in itself quite historic, because it features Kamala Harris. Not only does the California senator become the first female vice president, but she also becomes the first female African-American and Asian-American to hold that position — as well as the first Asian-American ever in the White House, and only the second African-American… More to the point, it appears that the deal between her and Biden implies that she will be quite involved, likely more than Biden was with Obama, because a) she’s extremely qualified to help run the country (she actually went to law school, was attorney general and a senator before this), b) she’s very much willing, c) she could inherit the whole empire come 2024…
Although this election took place in historically troubled times, let us not forget that its outcome is eminently positive for the United States, its allies (and foes) alike. We hold this truth to be self evident that the 46th president will do a better job the 45th, and can only hope that the new trajectory the country takes will be fundamentally changed — for the better…