Democrats on Tuesday formally nominated Joseph R. Biden to be their party’s 2020 presidential nominee – a nomination Mr. Biden will accept in a speech on Thursday.
At the end of the modified roll call vote, the camera cut to Mr. Biden and his family in a library surrounded by balloons as Kool & the Gang’s “Celebration” played in the background.
“Well, thank you very, very much from the bottom of my heart – thank you all,” Mr. Biden said. “It means the world to me and my family and I’ll see you on Thursday. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Jacquelyn Brittany, a 31-year-old security guard who went viral after telling Mr. Biden she loved him while escorting him to a New York Times editorial board meeting, was the first person to put the former vice president’s name in for nomination.
“Joe Biden has room in his heart for more than just himself,” she said on the second night of the modified Democratic National Convention.
One by one, representatives from 57 U.S. states and territories announced their votes while touting various locales, industries and causes to sub in for the usual convention floor nomination process.
The states went in alphabetical order, except for Mr. Biden’s home state of Delaware, which passed so the state could go last.
Gov. John Carney and Sen. Tom Carper made their appearance from a train station named after Mr. Biden.
The speakers included both elected officials and “everyday” Americans.
Rep. Terri Sewell of Alabama delivered remarks in front of a backdrop of the Edmund Pettus Bridge as a tribute to the late Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who died last month.
Lewis had his skull cracked by white police officers in the “Bloody Sunday” march in 1965.
Fred Guttenberg, whose daughter Jaime was killed in the Parkland, Fla. school shooting in February 2018, praised Mr. Biden’s decency and civility and said he’s the right candidate to take on the National Rifle Association. Rhode Island State Rep. Joseph McNamara lamented that the “calamari comeback” state’s restaurant industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Several former 2020 contenders also participated: Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and former Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York had seconded the nomination for Sen. Bernard Sanders of Vermont, who was the runner-up in the Democratic presidential primary contest for the second consecutive cycle.
During the roll call vote in 2016, Mr. Sanders moved that Hillary Clinton be nominated by acclamation in an attempt at party unity.
The virtual format of this year’s convention all but assured Democrats that they would avoid a repeat of 2016, when angry Sanders fans staged a walkout in protest.
