Joseph R. Biden Jr waited too long to give Speech delivered in Delaware Saturday evening. Not only the five days that have passed since Election Day, but it can be said that it is 48 years since his first election to the Senate, during which he ran for president three times. And at the age of seventy-seven, when Mr. Biden was jogging down the runway to exploding car horns and cheering, elated and almost surprised by the applause, it was clear his moment had arrived.

Here are five notes from the president-elect’s victory speech.

New tone from above.

The contrast between Mr. Biden and President Trump was strong and noticeable in nearly every paragraph, with the president-elect invoking his own spirituality and sharing the credit for this moment with his supporters and the people around him.

Quote from hymn “On Eagle Wings”. He thanked his supporters: “I owe you, I owe you, I owe you everything.” Warmly praise fellow runner Kamala Harris, and celebrate the fact that she will be The first woman, let alone one of color, to hold the position of Vice President: “I was too late, and tonight we remember all those who fought so hard for many years to make this happen.”

Most of all, even as the nation faces one of the darkest periods in its history – a deadly pandemic, economic decline, and political polarization – Mr. Biden was relentlessly optimistic, even euphoric. “We can do that,” he said. “I know we can.”

There were several notable passages in the speech, but one was prominent. He said, “Let this bleak era of demonization begin in America and end here and now. Maybe this is the line that people will talk about for a long time in the Biden presidency.”

President who?

Mr. Biden mentioned Mr. Trump’s name only once during his 17-minute speech. He ignored the fact that the President did not yield, and that he stabbed – without any evidence – Legitimacy of the elections. And Mr. Biden also did not notice that many of the top Republican leaders, presumably following Mr. Trump’s leadership, He did not offer him the usual congratulations.

But if Mr. Biden did not speak about the president, he certainly did speak to his supporters, a marked contrast to Mr. Trump’s speech after his victory in 2016. “For those who voted for President Trump, I understand your disappointment tonight,” he said. “I lost the elections twice. But now, let’s give each other a chance.”

While ignoring Mr. Trump’s protests about the election, Mr. Biden made clear that there should be no doubt about the legality of the outcome. He said, “The people of this nation have spoken.” They won us a clear victory. Disguised victory. We are the people victory. We won the most votes ever for a presidential ticket in the history of this nation – 74 million. “

Biden’s strategy here was clear. He exceeded the 270 electoral college votes needed to become president, and he could end up collecting more than 300 votes. He is now overcoming the competition with Mr Trump and taking over the president-elect. The transition is within reach, and presidential decorations are beginning to surround him – evident in the size of the Secret Service unit that followed him to deliver his speech, and the way every TV station spoke of him as the president-elect.

He seeks to push Mr. Trump away from the sidelines, and to move to urgent work of forming a new government and dealing with the crises he will face.

First priority: the epidemic.

Mr. Biden left no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic would be a priority for his administration in some way It wasn’t under Mr. Trump.

Mr. Biden announced that on Monday, he will appoint top science and health experts to a committee to draft a plan to combat the pandemic, which he said will be ready for implementation when he and Mrs. Harris take office in January. Mr. Biden told the nation that controlling the Coronavirus is crucial to a return to normal life and economic prosperity.

“We cannot fix the economy, or regain our vitality, or enjoy life’s most precious moments – the hugging of a grandchild, birthdays, weddings, graduations, all the moments that matter most – until we get this virus under control,” he said.

Mr. Trump took a completely different approach. He urged Americans throughout his election campaign not to fear the virus, stressing that his political opponents had exaggerated the danger. Challenge the advice of health officials regarding Precautions like wearing a maskEven after he was diagnosed with the virus.

Mr. Biden’s victory comes as the nation is Establish daily records of new infections And health authorities have He warned of a bleak winter. Masks were everywhere at his celebration.

Seeking “the confidence of the whole people”.

Mr Trump set the tone for his presidency upon his inauguration with a dark speech in which he did not particularly communicate with his base of supporters. The strategy raised him to a slim win in 2016 – in the Electoral College; He lost the popular vote – and has sought to repeat it in his losing campaign this year.

Mr. Biden moved hard in the other direction.

“I pledge to be a president who does not seek partition, but unification – whoever sees not the red and blue states, but the United States,” he said on Saturday. “Who will work with all my heart to win the confidence of the whole people?”

To some extent, this reflects what Mr. Biden said during the campaign, but the approach will take on an urgent new character when he becomes president. Waiting for a result Flux twice in GeorgiaRepublicans control the Senate, and he will need to reach out to senators from the red states if he wants to enact an agenda.

Their names are in the limelight.

There were some impressive fireworks during this campaign – the ones over the Washington skyline the night Mr. Trump accepted the Republican nomination from the White House backyard come to mind.

That, though, laid a bar that could be difficult to match: fireworks and drones showing Mr. Biden’s name, Mrs. Harris’s name, and a map of the United States. Surrounded by their families, Mr. Biden and Mrs. Harris stood on stage gazing into the Delaware sky, lit again and again the night Mr. Biden had been waiting for most of his life.