We Just Saw the Beginning of the Biden-Harris Era, and It Couldn’t Be More Different

“Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end here and now.”

Biden and Harris

Paul Sancya / AP

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In his first public remarks since the race was called for him Saturday morning, President-elect Joe Biden claimed a mandate to govern—and laid down a marker for the kind of president he intends to be.

Speaking to a large outdoor crowd at a parking lot outside an event center in Wilmington, Delaware—his applause lines sometimes punctuated by car horns from supporters sitting on trucks and SUVs—the former vice president declared, “Americans have called on us to marshal the forces of decency and the forces of fairness.” He promised action on climate, racial justice, jobs, and health care. And he announced that beginning Monday, he would be forming a special task force to develop a plan for COVID-19 for the White House to implement on January 20, 2021.

“That plan will be built on a bedrock of science,” he said. “It will be constructed out of compassion, empathy, and concern. I will spare no effort—or commitment—to turn this pandemic around.”

But Biden also spoke directly to the more than 70 million Americans who supported someone else this week, reiterating his desire for the kind of bipartisanship that, for better or for worse, has been a hallmark of his political career.

“For all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight—I’ve lost a few times myself,” he said. “But now, let’s give each other a chance. It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature. See each other again.”

“Let this grim era of demonization in America begin to end here and now,” he said later. “Refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate with one another—it’s not some mysterious force beyond our control; it’s a decision.”
 

Biden was preceded (and briefly joined) onstage by Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), the vice president–elect, who sought to place her victory in the context of those who came before her—a success forged by generations of struggle for women’s rights and racial equality. After Harris thanked her late mother, Shyamala Gopalan Harris, an immigrant from India, she continued:

I am thinking about her and about the generations of women, Black women, Asian, white, Latina, Native American women, who throughout our nation’s history, have paved the way for this moment tonight, women who fought and sacrificed so much for equality and liberty and justice for all. Including the Black women who are often, too often overlooked but so often proved they are the backbone of our democracy.

All the women who have worked to secure and protect the right to vote for over a century 100 years ago with the 19th Amendment, 55 years ago with the Voting Rights Act and now in 2020 with a new generation of women in our country who cast their ballots and continued the fight for their fundamental right to vote and be heard. Tonight, I reflect on their struggle, their determination and the strength of their vision to see what can be unburdened by what has been. And I stand on their shoulders.

Harris said that her victory, too, would provide a foundation for others.

“Every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibility,” she said. “And to the children of our country, regardless of your gender, our country has sent you a clear message: dream with ambition, lead with conviction, and see yourself in a way that others may not simply because they have never seen it before. But know that we will applaud you every step of the way.”

The Biden–Harris Era has begun. And it couldn’t be more different from the one that came before it.

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

payment methods

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