As I sit here on the patio, I’m having a rare moment of calm.
Nothing has really been different about today, except one thing. Joe Biden came out and gave a pretty good speech today, and I saw him handling a heckler in a very calm and humorous way. I guess his calm demeanor and directness were what I needed to hear today to keep the faith another day.
My hope is that either he or Kamala come out every day in a different place, a different state, including some of the red states to help increase the base, maybe not for this election, but for the Congressional races in 2022, and more so for 2024.
I hope the two of them give those speeches in parks, in front of mosques, churches and synagogues, in front of schools, courthouses, and city halls, in town squares, and villages, towns, suburbs, and cities. As they travel, I also hope they speak to people in elite neighborhoods, low-income housing developments, and the middle of farmlands.
They need to do this to let everyone know they will be the President and Vice President of the rich, the poor, the middle class, urban dwellers, small towns, rural areas, white collar workers, blue collar workers, neighborhoods of all races, creeds and colors, the strongholds of traditional Republicans, Democrats, Independents, and other political persuasions, including, yes, even trumpists.
Biden/Harris needs to hammer home, and hammer often, they will be the leaders of us all, not just those who vote for them. They need to show they are strong leaders who will face the challenges of leading a nation head-on. For us to know they care about us all and will do their best to improve all of our lives.
At the same time, Joe and Kamala need to emphasize and re-emphasize the current occupant of the White House is weak and incompetent. That the current administration is not up to even the most basic of requirements of the duties of the Presidency. The weakness of the man in the Oval Office is such that he couldn’t handle an effective response to COVID-19, couldn’t bring us together as a nation to combat racism, couldn’t lead us in effectively addressing police brutality, cares more about the dictators of the world’s opinions than our safety, neglects to protect our voting processes from meddling by foreign nationals, and is not able to tell the truth even when given the opportunity.
The last thing Joe, in particular, must do is show us a man of his age is still sprite and on his toes mentality. He needs to provide the contrast of how the current man in the Oval Office needs help going up and down a ramp, uses two hands to take a drink of water, and often speaks gibberish. We need to be shown who is up to the job both physically and mentally.
I believe the Biden/Harris team is up to the task. Each day they are showing us this to be so.
Keep it up Joe and Kamala! It’s working!
Personal Reflections of a Middle-Aged Man 