Biden Is Projected To Be The President-Elect. Here’s How It All Went Down.

This speech really set a tone and represented a major shift from the rhetoric we’ve gotten from Trump for the last four years. Even though we’ve heard similar thoughts from Biden throughout the campaign, it’s obviously different when he is president-elect and giving a glimpse of what we can expect for the next four years. What a shift we have ahead.

The main thing I’m struck by in the speeches tonight is something fairly simple and obvious — the change in tone. Harris and Biden both gave standard-order political speeches. But it’s a pretty stark reminder of what this election meant for many voters, and how things will change under a Biden presidency. To state the obvious, even if the divisions and polarization remain, politics is going to feel very different come January.

A big takeaway from this speech for me was the emphasis on Harris as a part of the ticket and the new administration. This reflects the growing power of the vice presidency, a trend that’s been building since the 1970s, and also Biden’s awareness, I think, that he doesn’t totally reflect the demographics of his party in ways that have become more important in recent years.