For Vice President and Senator Joe Biden endorses Doug Jones for U.S. Senate in 2017: NAJ screen shot

Guest Column –
By Doug Jones –

It was the spring of 1978, and I was a second year law student when we had as a guest speaker a young, first-term Senator from Delaware. To say that he made a lasting impression is an understatement.

I had a feeling then what I know to be true now – that Joe Biden would one day not only become President, but would be a great one.

That was 46 years ago and over that time we stayed in touch. I supported him every time I could, even being his Alabama campaign co-chair in 1988. And the support was always mutual.

Joe and I have shared some of the greatest – and the hardest – moments of my life. It’s what makes him a uniquely great man, one I’m proud to call a friend.

In 2000 he was one of the first to reach out and congratulate me for successfully prosecuting the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing case.

He was one of the few national Democrats who saw early on in 2017 what we were doing in Alabama and realized the potential we had, not just for a seat in the Senate, but for something greater. I will never forget our first conversation about that 2017 campaign, before I had even secured the Democratic nomination and just 6 months into the Trump Administration. He said that we had the chance to “redeem that soul of Alabama which is the first step in redeeming the soul of America.”

He saw the hope that our race could give that no one else could see. And he was right. You may remember him coming in to campaign for me but what many folks don’t know is this: after our historic victory, it was Joe Biden who escorted me on to the Senate floor to be sworn in as the first Democrat from Alabama to be elected in 25 years.

But our journey together was not just on the Senate floor. When my dad died in late December of 2019, and again when my mom died this past Christmas Day, he was one of the first people who called me to see how I was doing. When I would visit him when he was VP or President he would always want to call my mom, just to talk to her, and as he hung up the phone he would always use his famous line: “God love her.” How many other families has he done similar acts of kindness, of listening, and of love for – all without any kind of expectation in return?

It is who he is.

His career in public service has been nothing short of remarkable. But this time as President was historic. As the amazing author and historian Jon Meacham recently wrote in the New York Times:

“Here is the story I believe history will tell of Joe Biden. With American democracy in an hour of maximum danger in Donald Trump’s presidency, Mr. Biden stepped in the breach. He staved off an authoritarian threat at home, rallied the world against autocrats abroad, laid the foundations for decades of prosperity, managed the end of a once-in-a-century pandemic, successfully legislated on vital issues of climate and infrastructure and has conducted a presidency worthy of the greatest of his predecessors. History and fate brought him to the pinnacle in a late season in his life, and in the end, he respected fate — and he respected the American people.”

When Joe Biden talks about decency, it’s because he’s a decent man. When he talks about hope, it’s because he’s a hopeful man. When he talks about trust, it’s because he’s a trustworthy man. When he talks about freedom and love of country it is because he is a fiercely patriotic man. And it is because of all of those things that he made the difficult decision to step aside, to give up the pinnacle of power for any individual and pass the torch to his Vice President, Kamala Harris.

I don’t have to tell you that there is a lot at stake in this election. There are a lot of important, even critical, reasons to get off the sidelines and into the game with both your time and your money. But one of those reasons should also be to honor this extraordinary man and all he has done for us.

I’m excited about campaign of my former colleague Kamala Harris, and I’m all-in to do whatever I can to make sure we continue to fulfill this country’s promise to all Americans. And I am all in to #WinForJoe. I hope you’ll join me in honoring Joe by make a contribution that will help me and the Harris campaign continue the vital work we started together.

– Doug

#WinForJoe. Help Kamala and help win the Senate!

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