5 Reasons Why The Obama/Biden Bromance Could Motivate Undecided Black Voters
Barack Obama and Joe Biden have a bromance for the history books.
The nation’s first Black president and his choice of vice president, a senator from Delaware with three decades of political know-how, formed what will be a lifelong bond after learning to rely on each other during the Obama-Biden Administration.
During Obama’s speech at the 2020 Democratic National Convention Wednesday night, he was effusive in his praise and respect for his former VP.
“Twelve years ago, when I began my search for a vice president, I didn’t know I’d end up finding a brother,” Obama said, adding that Biden’s life struggles and grief have made him someone with empathy and compassion for all people.
“That empathy, that decency, the belief that everybody counts – that’s who Joe is,” Obama said.
Biden has been popular amongst African-American voters in the past, but his association with Obama certainly helped to seal the deal for many. Below are five times that Obama and Biden have proven that their “Bromance” is based on genuine friendship, and whether or not it’s enough to propel Biden into the top spot at the White House.
Obama Genuinely Respects Biden
In the waning days of his presidency, Obama surprised Biden by presenting him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom during a White House ceremony. Obama called Biden “the best vice president America’s ever had” and a “lion of American history.”
Biden, filled with emotion at the gesture, praised Obama as a “remarkable man who did remarkable things for this country.”
Obama joked that “this gives the Internet one last chance to talk about our ‘bromance.’”
Their dignified respect for one another is palpable and could be enough to influence Black voters who believe a Biden administration is one that will be similar to when Obama was in office.
Obama Has Strong Influence On Biden
During the Obama and Biden White House years, the pair attended outings, including several basketball games. One photo, now part of the Obama White House archives, shows them wearing huge grins and high-fiving each other after watching Sasha Obama, Obama’s youngest daughter, and Maisy Biden, the vice president’s granddaughter, playing a friendly game of hoops.
It turns out, Obama and Biden may have hooped it up on occasion as well. In February 2014, Biden hosted a Black History Month event at the Naval Observatory in Washington, which was attended by former Sacramento Mayor and NBA star, Kevin Johnson. Biden told the audience that he had challenged Obama to a game.
“I told the President, next game, I’ve got him. I may be a white boy, but I can jump.”
At that event, attendees heard Biden respectfully acknowledge how several guests in attendance “have created and lived through the most fundamental, dynamic change in the entirety of the history of African Americans in the United States.”
Both Men Are Experts At Public Policy
With more than three decades of experience as a senator and later vice president, Biden knows D.C. politics like the back of his hand. He learned the best people to talk to and the art of crossing the aisle to win over support.
In his memoir, Promises to Keep, Biden said he prefers studying people than delving into throngs of reports. “It’s important to read reports and listen to the experts; more important is being able to read people in power,” Biden wrote.
Obama, the studious, Ivy-Leaguer, would read binders of information to educate himself on each issue before determining his way ahead. Although their approaches to learning public policy were different, they worked well as a team and with Kamala Harris having a similar approach and style to Obama, she could be the replacement to help balance Biden in that regard.
They Are Loyal To One Another
Biden and Obama are each other’s wingmen.
Obama credits Biden for making him a better president. During Wednesday’s DNC speech, Obama said with Biden’s help, he was able to recover the economy and get the Affordable Health Care Act passed. As economic uncertainty and the COVID-19 pandemic continue to loom, especially within the Black community, Obama’s official mark of approval on Biden’s record could help motivate lackluster voters.
They Balance Each Other Well
Obama initially had some worries about choosing Biden as his running mate. Biden is known to put his foot in his mouth once or twice and Obama is much more methodical. Black voters overwhelmingly trust Obama and thus have trusted Biden.
Together, “Barack and Joe filled in the spaces that were missing in the other man and created something bigger than their separate parts: young and old, black and white, they melded into a whole that was brainy, goofy, standoffish, gregarious,” Steve Levingston, the nonfiction book editor for The Washington Post, writes in his book “Barack and Joe.”
For even more highlights from BET’s coverage of Wednesday night’s official 2020 Democratic National Convention, click here.
