Joe Biden chose a beautiful fall day to visit here in Durham, North Carolina. A blue sky and the sun just right, it kept us warm but not too hot. We were a laid-back crowd, typical of this small southern city, all of us waiting to see our presidential hopeful. Not invited to the main event--a car rally in a blocked-off parking lot--we stood along the school's drive, all of us apart from each other, trying to figure out which route Joe would take to head back to the airport.
The unmarked police cars, the motorcycles, and a side road sealed to traffic gave it away. We figured if we waited long enough, we would see Joe's motorcade, and sure enough we did.
What struck me most of all was the power, the sheer power, of that motorcade. The roaring motorcycles, the flashing lights, the lead cars followed by four SUVs, and multiple cars behind. It's a heady experience seeing that kind of power, a realization that those who run our country are mighty in ways that go far beyond the ordinary.
And what a tragic mistake to have vested that extraordinary power in such a weak human being as Donald Trump.
We cannot make that mistake again. Despite everything Trump has done to undermine our country and our standing in the world, the President of the United States is still the most powerful person on earth. We owe it to ourselves and to each other, and to people everywhere, to do what we can to elect someone deserving of that power. Someone who won't use that power for his own good, who won't corrupt that power into something vile, who won't treat that power like it's his personal tool.
For in the end, that power belongs rightfully to the people, we the people. It's shared power, not authoritative power.
Joe Biden understands this. Donald Trump does not.
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