USA The difficult farewell for Joe Biden
Joe Biden hugs his daughter Ashley tightly after her speech and lingers in her arms for several seconds. The US President then wipes his eyes with a handkerchief and goes to the lectern. There, the 81-year-old clutches his heart as thousands of delegates in the hall cheer him on. "Thank you, Joe", they shout in chants at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago. And later: "We love Joe."
Yet it was precisely this party that urged its frontman to withdraw from the election campaign due to his age and mental fitness. Some prominent Democrats who were at the forefront of the fight for Biden's withdrawal are now sitting in the hall clapping and celebrating Biden as someone who, in an act of human greatness and in the interests of the party, has voluntarily made way for the next generation. This distorts what actually happened. For a long time, Biden refused to bow to pressure from his party. The scramble for his departure became an undignified spectacle.
The party is trying to whitewash all of this at its meeting in Chicago, which is dedicated to the new presidential candidate Kamala Harris. But Biden is also in a strange and thankless role in the coming months. This applies to the election campaign - and to his job in the White House.
The (non-)role in the election campaign
Immediately after his big appearance at the party conference, Biden takes a long break and flies from Chicago to California. There he spends the rest of the week without any public appointments. The fact that Biden completely disappears during the rest of the party conference speaks volumes. Since dropping out of the race in July, the Democrat has only appeared once with Harris at a campaign rally. In general, he has made himself scarce in public.
One gets the impression that - after his many embarrassing appearances in recent months, which led to his withdrawal - the Democrats' strategy for the time being is to keep the number of his appearances to a minimum. And thus also the risk of further slip-ups that could damage Harris in the election campaign. In Chicago, Biden jokes that he will be the best campaign volunteer Harris and her running mate Tim Walz have ever seen. However, a formative role for Biden in her election campaign is currently not foreseeable.
For Harris, the balance of their time together in government is problematic in some areas - for example on the issue of migration. In addition, after years in Biden's shadow, she has to find her feet in her new role as number one. She is therefore more likely to try to keep some distance from her boss during the election campaign. After the confrontational weeks within the party leading up to Biden's departure, the Democrats are also trying to demonstrate new unity. This is precisely the point of Biden's appearance in Chicago, where he praised Harris as tough, experienced, a woman of character and integrity.
The role of president
Biden is still president until January. But he is now what Americans call a "lame duck" - someone who is at the end of his term in office and has therefore dramatically lost power and influence. "I have five months left in my presidency," says Biden in Chicago. "I have a lot to do." And he intends to get it all done.
However, this is not easy. The spotlight now belongs solely to Harris and the election campaign. The Democrats in Congress are primarily concerned with defending their own seats in parliament in the election. And international partners are also considering how they can work with a future US government rather than launching major initiatives with the outgoing incumbent.
This applies not only to Harris, but also to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has already been approached by several international heads of government.
Nevertheless, Biden is likely to try to work on his political legacy in the remaining months. He only made it into the White House on his third attempt - as the oldest US president of all time. Perhaps the fact that it was so difficult for him to get there will make it harder to let go.
