Kamala Harris has handed the podium to president-elect Joe Biden. He bounded out onto the stage about as energetically as you could expect from a man of his advanced years.
“Folks, the people of this nation have spoken. They’ve delivered us a clear victory, a convincing victory, a victory for we the people.
“We’ve won with the most votes ever cast for a presidential ticket ever cast in the history of the nation.
“Tonight, we’re seeing all over the nation, an outpouring of joy, hope, renewed faith in tomorrow. And I’m humbled by the trust and confidence you’ve placed in me.
“I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify.
“I sought this office to restore the soul of America, to rebuild the backbone of this nation, the middle class.
“It’s the honour of my lifetime that so many millions of Americans have voted for that vision.”
Mr Biden took some time to thank his supporters, and those who opposed him.
“All those who supported us, I’m proud of the campaign we built and ran,” he said.
“Democrats, Republicans, independents, moderates, progressives, conservatives. I mean it.
“The African-American community stood up again for me. You always had my back, and I’ll have yours.
“To all those of you who voted for President Trump, I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance.
“To make progress, we have to stop treating our opponents as our enemies. They’re not our enemies. They’re Americans. They’re Americans.
“This is the time to heal in America.”
There weren’t many policy specifics in the speech, but there were plenty of broad platitudes.
“Now this campaign is over, what is the will of the people? What is our mandate? I believe it’s this. Americans have called on us to marshall the forces of decency, the forces of hope, in the great battles of our time,” said the president-elect.
“Our work begins with getting COVID under control. We cannot restore the economy until we get it under control.
“That plan will be built on a bedrock of science. I will spare no effort, none, or any commitment to turn around this pandemic.”
The speech ended with an extended appeal to bipartisanship.
“I’m a proud Democrat. But I will govern as an American president. I will work as hard for those who didn’t vote for me as those they didn’t. Let this grim era of demonisation in America begin to end here and now,” he said.
“The refusal of Democrats and Republicans to cooperate, it’s not some mysterious force beyond our control, it’s a decision.
“If we could decide not to cooperate, we can decide to cooperate. This is part of the mandate given to us by the American people.
“America has always been shaped by inflection points, by moments in time we’ve made hard decisions about who we are and who we ant to be.
“We stand at an inflection point. We have an opportunity to defeat despair, to build a nation of purpose. We can do it, I know we can.
“We will lead not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example.
“We’re a good people. This is the United States of America, and there’s never been anything we’ve not been able to do when we’ve done it together.
“Let us be the nation that we know we can be. A nation united, a nation strengthened, a nation healed.”
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