Somebody on television said it was Joe Biden's best speech: "The best he's been."
He "blew a hole" in the current president's criticism of him. He's shown he's completely capable as a presidential candidate. Thursday night's acceptance speech was "a home run." His turn, finally, at getting the Democratic Party nomination for president was "enormously effective."
And all that was from Fox News commentators.
Joe Biden prepared his whole public career for Thursday night's televised speech, so it was heartwarming to see him pull it off. He grew up with a stuttering problem, so public speaking has never been his forte. Some of us think of him as an underdog each time the cameras come on, and Americans love an underdog.
The former senator and vice president was most effective when he talked about his personal life and losses. He clearly can empathize with hurting Americans, which might be his biggest difference with the current president. Joe Biden noted in his acceptance speech that compassion is on the ballot this November. And, he said, so is decency, science, and even democracy. We'll see.
But there are other things on the ballot, too. And as effective as Joe Biden's speech was Thursday night, Americans need to understand not just what's on Joe Biden's mind, but what's on his platform.
As these columns have noted before, this November the voting public won't be choosing between Donald Trump and Anybody Else, but instead We the People will be given a binary choice: between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
Donald Trump's positions and character we know. And, after all these years, Americans also know Joe Biden's character. But what about his positions?
The following statements are taken from Joe Biden's website joebiden.com. This isn't opposition research, but what he's advertising:
"Biden will include in the economic recovery legislation he sends to Congress a series of policies to build worker power to raise wages and secure stronger benefits. This legislation will make it easier for workers to organize a union and collectively bargain with their employers by including the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, card check, union and bargaining rights for public service workers, and a broad definition of 'employee' and tough enforcement to end the misclassification of workers as independent contractors. His bill will also go further than the PRO Act by holding company executives personally liable when they interfere with organizing efforts."
And "ban state laws prohibiting unions from collecting dues or comparable payments from all workers who benefit from union representation that unions are legally obligated to provide. Currently more than half of all states have in place these so-called 'right to work' laws, which in fact deprive workers of their rights. These laws exist only to deprive unions of the financial support they need to fight for higher wages and better benefits. As president, Biden will repeal the Taft-Hartley provisions that allow states to impose 'right to work' laws."
"Hold gun manufacturers accountable. In 2005, then-Senator Biden voted against the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act, but gun manufacturers successfully lobbied Congress to secure its passage. This law protects these manufacturers from being held civilly liable for their products--a protection granted to no other industry. Biden will prioritize repealing this protection."
"In order to reduce the stockpiling of firearms, Biden supports legislation restricting the number of firearms an individual may purchase per month to one."
The campaign also says a Joe Biden administration would increase benefits for older folks getting Social Security, provide free community college, increase federal money for housing, and implement a "clean energy revolution" in the country. All this and much, much more can be found at joebiden.com. You could spend a half-day reading all of it.
Lest we forget, after the nomination was secured, Joe Biden took the unusual step of going left instead of center. Such a step, or steps, went against the normal practice of those who won primaries in the past. Joe Biden even invited Bernie Sanders to help write that blueprint/manifesto for the most progressive administration since Franklin Roosevelt. (Bernie Sanders' words.)
"The goals of the task force were to move the Biden campaign into as progressive a direction as possible, and I think we did that," Sen. Sanders told NPR. "On issue after issue, whether it was education, the economy, health care, climate, immigration, criminal justice, I think there was significant movement on the part of the Biden campaign."
Doubtless there are those who would cheer all of this, from empowering unions through card check rules and slowly proceeding toward the objectives of the Green New Deal and Medicare for All, and giving away free, or at least tuition-free, college, etc.
We didn't hear many of these things in Thursday's acceptance speech. And before we all vote, we need to know where all the candidates stand.
Joe Biden provides a website. We recommend.
Good luck in November, y'all.