Biden accepts Democratic Party nomination in speech about 'light,' 'hope,' 'love' — with little or no policy specifics

Former Vice President Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic Party's nomination for president Thursday night during the party's national convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

What did he say?

In his acceptance speech, telecast from Delaware, Biden spoke often about "reclaiming the soul of America" — his campaign slogan — and appealed to Americans about the differences between he and President Donald Trump.

The 77-year-old nominee painted a picture of two very different Americas on the ballot this fall, contrasting his candidacy of "light" and "love" with President Trump's candidacy of "darkness" and "hate."

"I will draw on the best of us, not the worst. I will be an ally of the light, not the darkness," he said. "This is not a partisan moment, this must be an American moment."

"Love is more powerful than hate, hope is more powerful than fear, and light is more powerful than darkness," he added in his closing remarks.

The upshot: In the speech, Biden hoped to inspire hope for a better tomorrow with lofty rhetoric, but failed to provide hardly any real policy detail, save a call for a national mask mandate to stop the coronavirus.

Vice President Joe Biden's 2020 Democratic National Convention Speech | FULLwww.youtube.com

The only other areas in which he came close to speaking specifically about policy was in mentioning the Affordable Care Act and his intentions to save it.

Biden did, however, specifically place blame for the over 170,000 deaths as a result of the coronavirus squarely at Trump's feet, calling his handling of the pandemic "unforgivable."

The former vice president also leaned into the promise of healing the country's racial wounds, which have been at the fore of the campaign as Black Lives Matter protests continue to rage on across the nation.

"Will we be the generation that will finally wipe the stain of racism from our national identity?" Biden asked rhetorically after slamming Trump for "fan[ning] the flames of hate and division."

Anything else?

The speech was considered to be a paramount test for Biden, whose appearances on the campaign trail have been few and far between and short since he became the party's presumptive nominee earlier this year.

In the end, Biden appeared to have accomplished his goal of delivering an effective speech without any gaffes or major hiccups.

President Trump was not impressed, however. He tweeted following the speech that Biden's claims were "just words" and nothing more.

Now, with the conclusion of the Democratic National Convention, Biden and running mate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) will look forward to hitting the campaign trail ahead of the election Nov. 3.

Republicans will host their own convention next week, Aug. 24-27, in Charlotte, North Carolina. President Trump is expected to deliver his acceptance speech from the White House.