Joe Biden’s Democratic Convention Speech Is a Touching Moment for His Scranton Supporters

CHICAGO — Grace McGregor Cramer hopes Joe Biden feels that love more than anything else.

The Scranton resident, who lives on the same street the president once lived on in his hometown, is eagerly awaiting the outcry Biden is likely to receive from party stalwarts grateful for his sacrifice.

“It’s one of the most selfless things that really cements his legacy and makes me even more proud to call him a Scrantonian,” said Cramer, one of about 200 delegates from Pennsylvania to the Democratic National Convention.

Biden withdrew from the presidential race last month after growing concerns from Democrats who noticed falling ratings and stagnating poll results, they were convinced that he was not able winning a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

His speech Monday night caps nearly a half-century in politics and is expected to underscore Harris’s position as the right person to continue his campaign against former President Donald Trump. It will also set the tone for his final months in office, in which Biden will seek to strengthen his legacyFirst lady Jill Biden, who grew up in Montgomery County, is also expected to give a speech Monday.

While Biden’s popularity hasn’t risen in the polls, he’s expected to receive a hero’s welcome Monday when he addresses the convention on its first day and sets the tone by passing the historic torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris is the first Black woman and first Asian American to be nominated by a major party, and if she wins in November, she would make history as the first woman elected president.

Biden’s political conclusion will have personal significance for Pennsylvanians, especially those in Scranton, who — at least figuratively — had a direct line from home to the White House during his eight years as vice president and the last four of his presidency. Biden’s political brand has also long been rooted in his Scranton upbringing.

Scranton residents tend to pronounce the president’s full name with a slight regional accent, as if it were one word – Juhbiden. A boulevard named after him runs through the city. He has visited frequently, most recently in April of this year, and most famously on Election Day 2020, when he signed a sign on the wall of his childhood home in Greenridge: “From this house to the White House, by the grace of God.”

“Being one of the few cities in America that can say it’s the hometown of the president of the United States is incredibly special,” said Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democratic delegate. “While I’ll always be a little sad that he’s not running for a second term, I think it was the right thing to do, and now we have an opportunity to really start celebrating him and his legacy.”

Cognetti said the city is pushing for his presidential library. Marywood College, which is practically adjacent to his ancient home, would be a shrewd location, she said.

Republicans see opportunity in the northeastern part of the state and perhaps in similar white working-class areas across the country without Biden on the ballot. Trump held a rally in Wilkes-Barre last weekend and will hold a news conference Monday in York County.

“There are no hometown kids on the ballot anymore,” Gene Ziemba, chairman of the Luzerne County Republican Party, said recently. week. “There is an opportunity.”

Delegates from Scranton and the region overwhelmingly reported Democratic support in that area for Harris.

In Chicago this week, Andrew Cutillo, a 33-year-old delegate from Scranton, marveled at how closely linked the city and the president were.

“He is and continues to be a unique figure in Scranton history, so it’s bittersweet,” said Andrew Cutillo, 33, another delegate from Scranton. “But Joe Biden passed the torch to Kamala Harris, and now Scranton is passing the torch to Oakland.”

Biden has faced criticism from within the GOP over how lasting his roots can be in the place he left at age 10, but he still maintains ties to the people there.

And Pennsylvania’s delegation is packed with people from across the state who have gotten to know the president personally over the years. When he was a Delaware senator, he was often referred to as the third senator from Pennsylvania. Electoral politics have made recurrent trips to the state a necessity in recent election cycles.

This The oldest member of the Pa. delegation, Angie Gialloreto, 95, of Allegheny County, has attended every Democratic National Convention since Jimmy Carter was nominated in 1976. Gialloreto got to know Biden over the years and became one of his staunchest defenders when enthusiasm for him waned in the spring, having T-shirts made that read “Joe’s Girls” to show her support.

When Harris was nominated, she asked someone to write “For Harris” at the end of her T-shirt.

“Joe and I have been friends since he was planning to run for the Senate,” Gialloreto said in video posted on Harris’ campaign social media accounts“But before God takes me away, this woman will be the pride and joy of the United States of America,” she said of Harris.

Least–city ​​mayors don’t see the President of the United States as often as Scranton’s mayors. Cognetti’s interactions with Biden have included a trip to County Mayo in Ireland to their final farewell at Turkey Hill near Scranton after a campaign speech.

During that visit, she recalled asking Biden if there was a mirror in the presidential limousine after they both got in the car after lunch at a coffee shop. Biden told her there wasn’t.

“I said, ‘Well, at some point there will be a woman president, and I imagine there will be a mirror here,’” she said.

“I didn’t know it would happen as quickly as we hope now.”