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Here’s the speech I wish Joe Biden would make.

This is an unparalleled time in our nation’s history. I want to speak to all Americans — not just to my supporters — during this perilous time. I’m grateful to the dozen former presidential candidates who have endorsed my campaign during this cycle. Today, I want to make an endorsement of my own.

I hope my friend and colleague, Senator Sanders, will join me and we can show America how leaders can put aside their differences when circumstances demand it. If our actions today inspire others to do the same, I’m sure that would please both of us.

More importantly, I hope it will begin to renew faith with the American people. Without the confidence of our fellow citizens, we cannot succeed. With that confidence, our success cannot be doubted.

Today I’m endorsing Elizabeth Warren for president in 2024. I’m also inviting her to join my campaign as vice president, but in a different way than has been the recent practice. I know something about being vice president. I have a few thoughts about how the job can be made more important.

I entered this race to renew Americans’ faith in government. This is a battle for the soul of the nation. Each of my Democratic colleagues agrees with that. Leaders must always be looking ahead, because their decisions shape the future that all of us will inhabit.

Returning American life to normalcy has always been my goal, but none of us anticipated the disruptions now reshaping the lives of every American. What will “normal” look like after the coronavirus pandemic has been overcome? I can tell you this — it won’t look like what we knew a couple of months ago.

Pharaoh wasn’t brought down by that plague of frogs. He failed because he didn’t have a plan to deal with the frogs. Elizabeth Warren always has a plan. She saw what went wrong during the last national crisis that almost led to an economic depression. It didn’t, thank God, but it was close.

Warren set to work immediately, crafting the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Our citizens are no longer being duped into fraudulent mortgage commitments today because of the work she did and the vision she had. I want those skills in the White House every day, working on plans for the future of America.

Our plans don’t always agree, but that’s OK with me. Some of you will recall that I embraced gay marriage, when my boss was still on the fence. That worked out pretty well for everyone involved. I expect nothing less from Elizabeth Warren — and from Senator Sanders and from his followers. Let’s build this future together.

Finally, let me tell you what’s in my heart.

I don’t want to be remembered as the 46th president of the United States, though I believe I’ll make you proud if I’m given that privilege. I want to be remembered as a statesman — someone who brought people together to accomplish the greater good. I always strive for that, and today is no different. Thank you, and God bless America.

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Don Kahle (fridays@dksez.com) writes a column each Friday for The Register-Guard and blogs at www.dksez.com. He served as a speechwriter for the Obama administration. Kahle wrote a different column around the same idea exactly a year ago: https://www.registerguard.com/opinion/20190324/kahle-biden-his-time

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