Don Sutherland
Jill Biden’s address was arguably the most important and insightful of the night. She spoke of how Joe Biden made a family broken by tragedy whole. She emphasized that the power to overcome tragedy—personal and national—resides in “love and understanding” accompanied by “small acts of compassion” fortified by “bravery and unwavering faith.” She observed that “love holds a family together.” Love also holds a nation, its communities, and its people together.
Her address truly brought Biden’s humanity to the fore. It highlighted the courage, integrity, and empathy that has defined his relationship with his family and that he would bring to a divided, battered, and suffering nation. These traits, perhaps more than any single policy prescription, are what the nation urgently needs in its current moment of peril.
President Abraham Lincoln provided a living example of such traits during his Presidency. In his July 7, 1864 proclamation for a Day of National Humiliation, Fasting, and Prayer, Lincoln implored God “to enlighten the mind of the nation to know and do His will... and that unity and fraternity may be restored and peace established throughout all our borders.”
Unity makes great and good things possible. Greatness involves bringing people together for a common purpose. Goodness involves bringing people together for right and just causes.
Tonight, Dr. Biden made powerful argument that Joe Biden possesses greatness upon which he will draw upon for the noble cause of national renewal. Her narrative laid out a convincing case that, if elected, Joe Biden will restore “the unity and fraternity” of the currently divided nation. Further, he will do so while striving to lift the terrible burden of economic, public health, and soul-searching crises from its shoulders. That is what love of country is. |
