Let's hope Biden's 'Instagram meme' speech convinced white women

He could have quacked like a duck for 45 minutes and I'd still vote for him. But I'm voting because I want to live

Tonight, Joe Biden achieved what seemed like the unthinkable in any pre-Trump political era: he became the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States of America.

Still, did it really matter what he said tonight? For all I care, he could have quacked like a duck for 45 minutes and I’d still be voting for him. I like living and I want to be able to go play outside with my friends like those folks in other countries with leaders who don’t traffic in ignorance and conspiracy, so Biden’s speech was fine to me by virtue of it not being delivered by Donald Trump.

But for those curious, I will admit that I was caught off guard by Biden beginning his acceptance speech with a quote from civil rights activist Ella Baker. That sure is a shift, even if the rest of his talk seemed familiar.

Echoing his campaign announcement, Biden argued: “The current president has cloaked American anger for far too long. Too much anger, too much division. Here and now I give you my word — if you entrust me with the presidency, I’ll draw on the best of us, not the worst.”

“I’ll draw on the light, not the darkness,” Biden continued. “It’s time for us, for we the people, to come together, and make no mistake, we can and will overcome this season of darkness in America. We’ll choose hope over fear, facts over fiction, fairness over privilege.”

As for what’s at stake in November: "Character is on the ballot. Compassion is on the ballot. Decency, science, democracy. They're all on the ballot. Who we are as a nation. What we stand for. Most importantly, who we want to be."

On paper, it probably sounds like his campaign announcement video infused with language found from inspirational memes posted on Instagram, but one hopes that it worked on its intended audience of white women finally turned off by Donald Trump.

Snark aside, Biden’s ability to eloquently speak to grief proved useful in a message to those who have lost loved ones to the coronavirus: "I found the best way through pain and loss and grief is to find purpose. As God's children, each of us have a purpose in our lives. We have a great purpose as a nation."

I continue to worry about a country suffering such huge losses of life with no national grieving. This is something that will haunt us later, but for those who have looked for someone to speak to their pain, I bet the nod was appreciated. No, I don’t expect the president to be America’s grief counselor, but there is something to be said about reading the room and the mood of a nation.

In the end, Biden’s speech was good, for him — which doesn’t motivate me much. There was nothing he said that energized me. At the end of the day, he is still Joe Biden, whose 50 years in government feature plenty of blemishes that were left out of the well-made montage about his political career. The only people I know who are truly excited about Biden are people over the age of 50; I’m in my 30s, so it remains “low energy” for me.

Now, I’m Black and graduated from Howard University, so I know plenty of people excited about the idea of Vice President Kamala Harris. But Joe Biden? It’s more like I’ll live with it because I want to live.

Make no mistake — should Biden be successful, I will join others in gently pushing him to be more like FDR rather than some austerity loving pop-pop politician. But as of now, I have already forgotten his speech, though I very much look forward to voting against Donald Trump.

All I want now is an end to Trump’s reign and all that it brings: chaos, corruption, bigotry, violence, and lately, massive death and a far-right tilt. I’m tired, and while I can appreciate Joe Biden making the most of a night he’s wanted for decades, Donald Trump has already done his job for him.