Donald Trump derisively calls Joe Biden, “Sleepy Joe.”
But after listening the former Second Lady on Tuesday night, it feels like we all might finally get a good night’s rest when he is elected president.
Dr. Jill Biden capped the second day of the virtual Democratic National Convention with a nine-minute speech meant to reassure the nation that her husband is up to the job of fixing the damage the Trump administration has inflicted. With a soft, calm voice, the former high school teacher addressed a nationally televised audience from an empty classroom, symbolic of this country’s current crisis.
Biden, who is the former vice president’s second wife, drew parallels between her family and the nation. Joe Biden married Jill several years after his first wife and baby daughter were killed in a tragic car accident.
“How do you make a broken family whole?” Jill Biden asked. “The same way you make a nation whole. With love and understanding and with small acts of kindness.”
The convention is now half over. On Tuesday, Democrats took their roll call and officially nominated Joe Biden to be their candidate.
Interspersed throughout the evening were speeches and videos from Democrats and Republicans, as Biden attempts to build a broad coalition, from progressives on the left to moderates on the right. Democratic speakers included former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, former presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State John Kerry.
Biden also picked up the endorsement of two more Republicans. Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who served under George W. Bush, and Cindy McCain, widow of deceased Arizona Sen. John McCain, both said they will be voting for Joe Biden.
They joined four Republicans -- former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, former New York Rep. Susan Molinari and former California gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman -- all of whom endorsed Biden on Monday night.
The evening finished with a video that introduced us to the Biden family’s remarkable story, followed by Jill’s speech.
In it, she described her husband as having an unstoppable strength of will.
“I know that if we entrust this nation to Joe, he will do for your family what he did for ours,” she concluded. “Bring us together and make us whole. Carry us forward in our time of need. Keep the promise of America for all of us.”