Former Vice President Joe Biden built a career on incremental change. Now he’s styling himself as the next Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

Biden’s campaign was defined early on as a return to “normalcy” — the time before President Donald Trump took office — but now he is thinking much bigger. With the coronavirus, there’s no “pre-Trump normal” to go back to. Biden’s rhetoric has shifted as well, increasingly laying out a transformational vision for the country.

Over the course of the Democratic primary, progressives — particularly those who supported Sen. Bernie Sanders — made it no secret they found Biden’s more cautious approach inadequate. But with Biden poised to accept the party’s nomination in just a few weeks, many sound a lot more hopeful that he now shares their goals.

In 2008, the left wing of the Democratic Party felt shut out of the Obama transition effort.