Video of Biden’s speech in Columbia last night

It’s a good thing I decided against trying to post this video last night before going to bed. I’d have been up half the night.

I’ve been having trouble moving video and images from my phone to this new computer. And of course 18 minutes of HD video make for a HUGE file.

So after a process that involved a phone, two laptops, and a flash drive that I had to empty in order to use, I can finally show you the speech.

Enjoy, and be edified…

A panoramic view of the room just before Joe came out.

A panoramic view of the room just before Joe came out.

7 thoughts on “Video of Biden’s speech in Columbia last night

  1. Mr. Smith

    Biden, the safe candidate you’ll be sorry you picked?

    A couple of recent observations:

    “What happens when a party nominates a candidate who triumphs because of familiarity, or because “it’s her turn,” or because he’s steadily ascended the party ranks despite no defining passion or cause? The track record of these “default” nominees, at least in modern political history, is bleak.
    The seemingly obvious implication is that a candidate who wins without enthusiasm is doomed, that a candidate who inspires is a better electoral bet than one who has simply endured. Find a candidate who can trigger turnout among the most reliable Democratic voters, the argument goes, and the party will have a much better chance than trying to beckon back disaffected Democrats with a safe, familiar face who may not be magnetic but who will not repel.”
    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/01/19/joe-bidensafe-choice-dangerous-democrats-100478

    “The only campaign muscle that Biden has flexed that the other candidates haven’t is his superhuman capacity for empathy. His personal testimonies of loss and grief, his ability to connect with others who have suffered, are great enough to move even the hardcore cynics in the house. But unless we’re electing a national therapy dog, which we’re not, Biden’s emotional intelligence isn’t a good enough reason to send him to the White House.”
    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2020/02/12/joe-biden-2020-campaign-analysis-new-hampshire-114434

    1. Brad Warthen Post author

      First, he’s not my “safe” choice, he’s my preferred choice. He’s what the nation needs now.

      And while those observations may be recent, I’ve been hearing them for a year, since before Biden got in the race, from people who wished he wouldn’t.

      As for that sneering bit from Politico about a “therapy dog,” if Joe didn’t have anything else — and he has a lot else — but empathy, just on the basis of that he would be the perfect antidote to Trump.

      I, too, used to sneer at the idea of the president as Empathizer in Chief. I got fed up with it during the Clinton administration. And I don’t blame Clinton for it (although he relished the role — now bite your lip, Bill), but it was along about then that I realized the nation was turning to the president for that, and I thought it was ridiculous. Whenever anything tragic happened anywhere — even though it usually had nothing to do with the job of president — TV reporters would stand out on the White House lawn waiting breathlessly for a statement from the president expressing the appropriate emotion.

      But now, we could really, really use a president who has the decency and connection with other human beings to feel, much less express, appropriate feelings…

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