Democrats’ lovefest not so happy for party’s awkward uncle Joe

Joe Biden will be like the awkward uncle at a family party when the Democratic National Convention gets underway in Chicago Tuesday (AEST). The four day convention will be a whirlwind celebration of Kamala Harris as the Democrats seek to present a unified front for their newly nominated candidate in her battle against Donald Trump.

But it won’t be such a happy party for the ageing president who is still smarting from the coup engineered by Democrat leaders to force him to abandon his presidential bid in favour of Harris.

Biden has not spoken to Democrat elder Nancy Pelosi since he abandoned his presidential campaign last month because of her role in his demise. He is also reportedly disappointed with former president Barack Obama for his silence as Democrat leaders, including Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, plotted for his departure.

As such, Biden will only attend the convention on the first night where he will give a speech to the party faithful who will no doubt try to make him feel better with cries of “thank you Joe.”

The Democratic National Convention (DNC) will take place at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Picture: AFP.

But Biden has chosen to fly out of Chicago after his speech and will not hang around for the rest of the week to watch the Kamala party and hear the plaudits which will come his way from the Obamas and others when they speak.

The Democrats are hugely grateful to Biden for abandoning his presidential bid just before they truly forced him to go. Their decision has been vindicated by Harris’ soaring polls numbers which have re-energised Democrat hopes of regaining the White House. But over-the-top gratitude they will show Biden at the convention will reflect in part their guilt at toppling him, rather than their faith in him.

For Biden, the convention is just the latest awkward moment in a difficult transition from being the contender to being the lame duck president who is no longer the focus of media attention.

Last week, Biden joined Harris on the campaign trail for the first time since he quit the race. But it is not clear that Harris will want the 81 year old Biden to have a prominent campaign role given that Harris is pitching herself as the candidate for the future.

The president is said to still be angry at the role that Democrat leaders, and especially Pelosi had, in pressuring him to abandon his position as the presumptive Democratic nominee for president.

‘‘She did what she had to do in order to give Democrats the best chance to win in November,” Biden told one source according to Politico. He added that Pelosi “cares about the party, not about feelings.”

Biden still refuses to admit he was too old for a second term as president, saying his decision to quit the race was aimed at preserving party unity rather than an admission that he would lose.

Barack Obama will also speak at the Convention. Picture: AFP.

Pelosi, when asked recently whether her decades long relationship with Biden will survive, replied: “I hope so, I pray so, I cry so. I lose sleep on it,”

Other members of Democrat royalty, including Barack and Michelle Obama and Bill and Hillary Clinton will also address the convention. But Harris reportedly wants to use the convention to adopt a younger, more optimistic tone to contrast the relative youth of her 59 years to the 78 year old three time candidate in Trump.

The Democratic lovefest in Chicago is likely to further extend Harris’ remarkable political honeymoon which has already lasted a month since Biden stood aside as the candidate.

Harris began the race trailing Trump in the polls but since then she has experienced a surge in support and enthusiasm from Democrat and independent voters which saw her draw level with Trump and now hold a modest lead over Trump in most of the key battleground states which will decide the election.