拜登在民主党全国代表大会上发表告别演讲，代表们情绪复杂
【中美创新时报2024 年 8 月 20 日编译】（记者温友平编译）拜登在大会第一天晚上发表了感人的告别演讲，而不是在最后一晚发表胜利的接受演讲。演讲时间的转变是在他上个月决定退出竞选、将民主党的权力移交给副总统卡马拉·哈里斯之后发生的。《波士顿环球报》记者Jim Puzzanghera、Tal Kopan 和 Sam Brodey对此作了下述报道。
和民主党全国代表大会的大多数代表一样，雷·维拉尔是拜登总统的忠实粉丝。
这就是周一晚上这位来自威斯康星州拉辛市的 58 岁科技企业家如此艰难的原因。
“我们都是拜登的代表，”维拉尔说。“我们爱乔·拜登。”
拜登在大会第一天晚上发表了感人的告别演讲，而不是在最后一晚发表胜利的接受演讲。演讲时间的转变是在他上个月决定退出竞选、将民主党的权力移交给副总统卡马拉·哈里斯之后发生的。
他是节目的最后一位演讲者，节目持续到了黄金时段之后。第一夫人吉尔·拜登帮助介绍了他，在代表们挥舞着写有她名字的绿白标牌的欢呼声中，她登上了舞台。她告诉他们，她看到拜登“深深地挖掘自己的灵魂，决定不再寻求连任，并支持卡马拉·哈里斯”。
他们的女儿阿什利·拜登随后将他描述为“一生都被低估的斗士”。总统走出来，给了她一个长长的拥抱，人群咆哮着挥舞着“我们爱乔”的标牌，长时间的起立鼓掌变成了对这句话的呼喊。
“我爱你，”拜登说，人群拒绝停下来，倾泻着爱意。然后他们开始更大声地高呼，“谢谢你，乔。”
他宣布，自 1 月 6 日叛乱发生后的几天宣誓就职以来，民主在他的监督下占了上风。
“现在必须维护民主，”拜登说。
他告诉代表们，哈里斯是最适合做这件事的人。
“选择卡马拉是我在 [2020 年] 成为我们的候选人时做出的第一个决定。这是我整个职业生涯中做出的最好的决定，”拜登在 45 分钟的演讲结束时说道。“她的故事代表了最好的美国故事，和我们许多最好的总统一样，她也是副总统。”
拜登决定辞去党内候选人一职，是在他与唐纳德·特朗普的辩论表现糟糕之后。这一举动提升了拜登在维拉尔等民主党人眼中的声望，他们称这是正确的举动，但对他的支持者来说“非常痛苦”。
“我认为即使在辩论之后，他仍然有机会获胜，”维拉尔周一早上在威斯康星州代表团的早餐会外说道。“问题是，即使他以微弱优势获胜，也意味着我们将失去众议院和参议院。”
周一，在大会开幕之际，一群演讲者在芝加哥联合中心向拜登致敬，表达了感人但尴尬的感激之情，因为他仍然有资格，而且最初也打算连任。
哈里斯在大会第一天晚上在台上简短地发表了讲话，这突显了这次竞选前所未有的性质。她这样做是为了庆祝拜登。
“乔，感谢你历史性的领导，感谢你一生为我们的国家服务，感谢你将继续做的一切，”周一，在拜登准备发言前一个小时，她对着人群的欢呼声说道。“我们永远感激你。”
拜登演讲结束后，她再次打破先例，在体育场观看完演讲后与拜登及其家人一起登上舞台。
拜登的密友、前长期助手泰德·考夫曼告诉《波士顿环球报》，总统在大会上发表讲话的唯一目标是提升民主党的选票，尽管他不再是民主党的支持者。
“他来这里只有一个目的：让卡马拉和 [副总统候选人] 蒂姆·沃尔兹当选，”考夫曼说。“这对他来说非常重要。这就是他，把党放在自己前面。”
马萨诸塞州民主党主席史蒂夫·克里根在周一早上为来自他所在州、缅因州和居住在国外的美国民主党代表团举行的早餐会上发表讲话时，明确指示了这一点。
“今晚，当第一夫人拜登博士和总统登上舞台时，我想听到你们的声音，非常大声，”他开玩笑地告诉他们。“如果我不听，你们明天就吃不到早餐了。”
周一，代表们赞扬了 81 岁的拜登的成就，同时也承认他作为美国最年长的总统，与比他年轻三岁的特朗普进行对决，存在局限性。他们对拜登在竞选过程中能给哈里斯和民主党带来多大帮助的看法不一。
但代表们称赞拜登退出竞选，此举给民主党注入了活力，该党迅速团结在哈里斯身后。
“我认为拜登一直把国家放在自己之上，我认为很多人从他决定让位、让卡马拉领先这一点中看到了这一点，”波士顿市议员莎朗·杜尔坎说。
费城建筑和建筑行业工会主席瑞安·博耶 (Ryan Boyer) 表示，他对拜登“深表敬意”，因为他“无私胜过自私”，如果他在宾夕法尼亚州竞选，将对民主党有所帮助。
密尔沃基市长卡瓦利尔·约翰逊表示，他欢迎拜登今年秋天在他的城市为哈里斯和民主党竞选。
“有些人和我一样，仍然想见到他，仍然想和他接触，对他有好感，我认为最后一次与他们接触的机会将是令人难忘的，”约翰逊说，他计划周一晚上佩戴拜登的领针。
但共和党民意调查员乔恩·麦克亨利 (Jon McHenry) 预测，拜登将成为哈里斯在竞选过程中的负担。
“我认为他们应该让他留在雷霍博斯的海滩上，让他偶尔在玫瑰园签署一些东西，并尽量减少他的影响，”麦克亨利说。
来自费城的莫娜·科恩 (Mona Cohen) 等代表表示，拜登还有更多可以奉献的东西。
“他是智慧、安慰和智慧的源泉，”她说。“我希望他在传递火炬时能对哈里斯耳语。”
来自威斯康星州布鲁克菲尔德的 23 岁替代代表凯文·雅各布森 (Kevin Jacobson) 说，拜登能做的最好的事情就是在哈里斯竞选继任者期间管理好国家。
“在他卸任后的一周内，我们看到了一些相当重大的突破，比如他们从俄罗斯释放了囚犯，我觉得现在他有时间专注于当总统而不是竞选，我们在很多不同问题上都看到了一些进展，”从事咨询工作的雅各布森说。“我认为，他能为竞选做的最好的事情之一就是成为一名真正伟大的总统。”
拜登于 7 月 24 日向全国发表讲话，三天前他宣布不会竞选连任，他说在辩论后的几周里，他已经清楚地认识到他需要团结党派。
拜登面临民主党人要求他下台的压力，但他拒绝了，继续坚称自己仍然是党内对抗特朗普的最佳人选。但考夫曼表示，拜登在必要时会迅速做出决定，这次他没有怨恨。
“这对他来说是一个非常重要的决定，他一拿到数据就做出了决定，”考夫曼说。“这表明他有多关心这个国家，有多关心这个政党。我一点也不相信他感到不安。”
来自缅因州奥罗诺的前州参议员艾米丽·凯恩出席了大会，她说拜登应该受到民主党人的赞扬，因为他迈出了如此无私的一步。
“我认为乔·拜登做了乔·拜登最擅长的事情，那就是为美国人民做正确的事情，”她说。“我非常感激。”
题图：总统乔·拜登周一在芝加哥联合中心举行的民主党全国代表大会第一天发表讲话。Win McNamee/Getty
附原英文报道：
Biden delivers swan song address to the Democratic convention as delegates wrestle with mixed emotions
By Jim Puzzanghera, Tal Kopan and Sam Brodey Globe Staff,Updated August 20, 2024
CHICAGO — Like most of the delegates at the Democratic National Convention, Rey Villar is a big fan of President Biden.
That’s what made Monday night so difficult for the 58-year-old tech entrepreneur from Racine, Wis.
“We’re all Biden delegates,” Villar said. “We love Joe Biden.”
Biden delivered an emotional swan song address on the first night of the convention instead of a triumphant acceptance speech on the last night. The shift in speaking slots follows his decision to drop out of the race last month, handing the Democratic Party’s reins to Vice President Kamala Harris.
He was the final speaker of a program that stretched well past prime time. First lady Jill Biden helped introduce him, taking the stage to cheers of “Jill, Jill, Jill” from delegates waiving green-and-white signs with her name. She told them how she saw Biden “dig deep into his soul and decide to no longer seek re-election and endorse Kamala Harris.”
Their daughter, Ashley Biden, then described him as “a fighter who has been underestimated his entire life.” The president walked out and gave her a long hug as the crowd roared and waved “We love Joe” signs during a lengthy standing ovation that morphed into chants of that phrase.
“I love you,” Biden said as the crowd refused to stop in an outpouring of affection. Then they began chanting even louder, “Thank you, Joe.”
He declared that democracy had prevailed under his watch since taking the oath of office in the days after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
“And now democracy must be preserved,” Biden said.
Harris was the person to do it, he told the delegates.
“Selecting Kamala was the very first decision I made…when I became our nominee in [2020]. It was the best decision I made my whole career,” Biden said toward the end of his 45-minute speech. “Her story represents the best American story, and like many of our best presidents, she was also vice president.”
Biden’s decision to step aside as the party’s nominee came after his calamitous debate performance against Donald Trump. The move has elevated Biden in the eyes of Democrats like Villar, who called it the right move but one that “hurt like hell” for his supporters.
“I thought he still had a chance to win, even after the debate,” Villar said outside the Wisconsin delegation’s breakfast Monday morning. “The problem was that, even if he won by a squeaker, it means we would have lost the House and the Senate.”
Mixed emotions about Biden hung over the start of the convention Monday as a parade of speakers paid tribute to him at Chicago’s United Center in a touching but awkward display of gratitude given he still was eligible, and initially intended, to seek another term.
Highlighting this campaign’s unprecedented nature, Harris took the unusual step for a presidential nominee of speaking briefly from the stage on the convention’s first night. And she did it to celebrate Biden.
“Joe, thank you for your historic leadership, for your lifetime of service to our nation and for all you will continue to do,” she said to roars from the crowd Monday about an hour before he was set to speak. “We are forever grateful to you.”
After Biden’s speech, she broke precedent again by joining Biden and his family on the stage after watching the address in the arena.
The president’s sole goal in addressing the convention was to boost the Democratic ticket, even though it no longer includes him, Ted Kaufman, a close confidant and former longtime Biden aide, told the Globe.
“He’s there for one reason: to get Kamala and [vice presidential nominee] Tim Walz elected,” Kaufman said. “It’s incredibly important to him. That’s him, putting the party ahead of himself.”
Massachusetts Democratic Party Chair Steve Kerrigan had explicit instructions when he addressed a breakfast Monday morning for the delegations from his state, Maine, and US Democrats living abroad.
“Tonight when the first lady, Dr. Biden, takes the stage and the president takes the stage, I want to hear you, very loudly,” he jokingly told them. “And if I don’t, you’re not getting your breakfast tomorrow.”
Delegates on Monday praised the accomplishments of Biden, 81, while acknowledging his limitations as the nation’s oldest president in a rematch with Trump, who is just three years younger. They had mixed views on how much help Biden would be to Harris and Democrats on the campaign trail.
But delegates lauded Biden for bowing out of the race, a move that has given Democrats a jolt of energy as the party quickly united behind Harris.
“I think Biden has always put country over himself, and I think a lot of people saw that in the decision to step aside and let Kamala take the lead,” said Boston City Councilor Sharon Durkan.
Ryan Boyer, head of the Philadelphia Building and Construction Trades Council, said he has “a profound reverence” for Biden because he put “selflessness over selfishness” and would be helpful to Democrats if he campaigned in Pennsylvania.
And Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson said he’d welcome Biden campaigning for Harris and Democrats in his city this fall.
“There are folks out there that are like me that still want to see him, that still want to engage with him, that have an affinity for him, and having one last opportunity to engage with them I think would be memorable,” said Johnson, who planned to wear a Biden lapel pin Monday night.
But Republican pollster Jon McHenry predicted Biden would be a liability for Harris on the campaign trail.
“I think they should keep him on the beach at Rehoboth, have him sign something in the Rose Garden every once in a while, and sort of minimize him,” McHenry said.
Delegates such as Mona Cohen from Philadelphia said Biden still has more to offer.
“He is a source of wisdom and comfort and intelligence,” she said. “I hope he is whispering in [Harris’s] ear as he passes the torch.”
The best thing Biden can do is run the country well while Harris campaigns to succeed him, said Kevin Jacobson, 23, an alternative delegate from Brookfield, Wis.
“We saw some pretty major breakthroughs in the week after he stepped aside, like they got the prisoners free from Russia, and I feel like we’ve seen some movement on a lot of different issues now that he has the time to focus on being president rather than campaigning,” said Jacobson, who works in consulting. “And I think that one of the best things that he can do for the campaign is just be a really great president.”
When Biden addressed the nation on July 24, three days after he announced he would not seek reelection, he said it had become clear to him in the weeks after the debate that he needed to unite the party.
Biden was under pressure from Democrats to step aside and had resisted it, continuing to assert he still was the party’s best option against Trump. But Kaufman said Biden makes quick decisions when he has to, and he did so in this case with no bitterness.
“This was a really important decision to him and once he got the data he made the decision,” Kaufman said. “It shows how much he cares about the country and how much he cares about the party. I do not believe for one minute that he’s upset.”
Emily Cain, from Orono, Maine, a former state senator attending the convention, said Biden deserves praise from Democrats for taking such a selfless step.
“I think Joe Biden did what Joe Biden does best, which is do what’s right for the American people,” she said. “I’m very grateful.”
