48 YEARS AGO TODAY, JOSEPH ROBINETTE BIDEN JR. was first elected to federal office, winning Delaware's Senate seat with 50.5% of the vote. Today, news outlets projected that BIDEN and Sen. KAMALA DEVI HARRIS of California will be the president and vice president of the United States come 2021. BIDEN is the 15th vice president to ascend to the presidency, and will be the oldest man elected to the White House. HARRIS will be the first woman sworn in as vice president of the United States. WHEN BIDEN addresses the nation in the Capitol sometime next year, he will likely say for the first time "Madame Speaker and Madame Vice President." Two of the top three officials in the federal government next year will be women. BIDEN is expected to make his first speech as president-elect 8 p.m. in Wilmington. WASHINGTON ERUPTED into celebration on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, with horns honking from Capitol Hill to downtown near the White House up through Cleveland Park and upper Northwest Washington. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP -- who was on the golf course when the race was called -- issued a defiant statement to keep fighting, although it looks like his time in the Oval Office will be ending on Jan. 20 barring a shocking turnaround. Anita Kumar on Trump's concession WE SAID THIS WHEN TRUMP got elected four years ago Monday: WASHINGTON changes with each administration, and you should expect a shift in the vibe of the capital city once BIDEN takes office. TRUMP ushered in the TRUMP HOTEL as a center of the universe -- that will now become the mecca of the Republican resistance. An entire class of Democratic operatives had moved on from Washington, disenfranchised by the TRUMP era. Some will return to work for BIDEN, who was so instrumental in BARACK OBAMA'S administration. Others inspired to get involved with the BIDEN campaign will come to Washington for the first time. JUST LIKE OBAMA, BIDEN will inherit a country wracked by turmoil -- instead of a collapse of the financial sector, BIDEN will take the reins of a nation in the midst of economic downturn, and suffering from a deadly virus that's killed nearly a quarter million Americans. REPUBLICANS have suddenly discovered their love for fiscal restraint after running up trillions of dollars of new debt under TRUMP even before the pandemic. But that reality will clash with the fact that both parties concede the American people need fiscal stimulus. BIDEN'S TASK WILL NOT BE SIMPLE, of course. BIDEN will likely face a Republican Senate run by MITCH MCCONNELL of Kentucky, who has been the bane of Democrats' existence for years. BIDEN has a good relationship with his "old friend" MCCONNELL, but time will tell whether the Kentuckian is in a deal cutting mood in 2021 and 2022. THE REPUBLICAN PARTY in the BIDEN era will be bitter from losing the White House, and looking for a way forward. TRUMP is sure to be on the sideline, lobbing rhetorical bombs, and threatening to run again in 2024. PLUS, the GOP will be looking to take the House in 2022 -- and history is on KEVIN MCCARTHY's side in that quest. MCCONNELL , of course, will also be grasping for power. If Trump isn't the GOP nominee in '24, there are several Senate Republicans who think they could be, including Sens. TOM COTTON (Ark.), MARCO RUBIO (Fla.) and TED CRUZ (Texas). THE GOP OF TODAY hardly resembles the GOP of old - forever altered by TRUMP, the Tea Party and QAnon, Republicans face serious questions about the future direction of their party and its values. It may not be pretty to watch them work it out. It won't be simple or resolved soon. AND THEN, there's the Democrats. The left wants BIDEN to deliver on a progressive agenda, but moderates blame progressives for the party's poor showing in congressional races. It's up to BIDEN -- and HARRIS -- to balance these two factions. FOREIGN POLICY will also be an area of special interest for BIDEN. TRUMP has vowed to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan by the time BIDEN takes office. FRANCE and GERMANY are sure to hail a BIDEN victory, but keep an eye on the U.K.'s BORIS JOHNSON and Israel's BENJAMIN NETANYAHU. They have been two of TRUMP'S closest allies abroad. BIDEN has promised a tougher line on RUSSIA, but CHINA is sure to dominate BIDEN'S presidency. The US-China relationship has deteriorated rapidly under TRUMP , especially since the coronavirus pandemic originated there. NYT: "Biden to Face Long List of Foreign Challenges, With China No. 1" PEOPLE GATHERED at the home BIDEN grew up in Scranton. POLITICO on Biden's agenda … BIDEN'S CABINET OPTIONS SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI and Senate Minority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER spoke with BIDEN and JILL BIDEN at 12:45 eastern time Saturday. NYT: "CNN called it first, at 11:24 a.m. on Saturday, quickly followed by NBC, CBS, ABC and The Associated Press. Fox News waited until 11:40 a.m." | 
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