Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

“Uncle Joe” Biden visits the Range, and sounds like one of us

Keith Vandervort
Posted 10/29/14

Seeing and hearing, in person, the President or Vice President of the United States, or a candidate for these high offices, is a rare opportunity for any American. I was in the same room last week …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

“Uncle Joe” Biden visits the Range, and sounds like one of us

Posted

Seeing and hearing, in person, the President or Vice President of the United States, or a candidate for these high offices, is a rare opportunity for any American. I was in the same room last week with Vice President Joe Biden at Hibbing Community College along with several hundred Iron Range residents.

Biden was elected to the U.S. Senate at the age of 29. Some may consider him an elder statesman – Barack Obama must have when he chose him as his running mate. Others might liken him to that off-color uncle who says the wrong thing at the wrong time and embarrasses himself — Obama may have thought that too when Biden whispered in his ear on March 23, 2010, about the “big (expletive deleted) deal” at the signing of the Affordable Care Act. I believe he is both, and I celebrate him as a truly one-of-a-kind politician in today’s extremely partisan society.

Most people are only aware of the Washington media’s portrayal of Biden as that bumbling fool who is always pulling his foot out of his mouth. What I saw and heard in person was a kind, gentle, peaceful man who at first spoke so softly, and from the heart, that the entire audience in that gymnasium collectively leaned forward, hand cupped to an ear, so as not to miss a word of what he was saying. He grew louder and his words were more forceful as has painted a picture of middle class America, and the Northern Minnesota mining culture in particular, during his speech to support Rep. Rick Nolan’s bid for re-election.

“It’s more than a just a living. It’s a culture. It’s a community,” Biden said about Iron Range mining. “It’s about how you get married. It’s about baptisms. It’s about the way in which you honor people who’ve passed. It’s a community.”

At times, he sounded like a teacher, citing information from studies that showed the rich are getting richer on the backs of the middle class. “I know this is boring, but it’s instructive, man,” he said.

I arrived at Hibbing Community College just before the doors opened for admission into the college’s gymnasium. Volunteers on the Nolan campaign were working the lines, passing out Nolan stickers and giving out some pseudo “admission” ticket. More importantly, they were getting email addresses and phone numbers to build the database for the state DFL. Biden and Nolan attended an event in Duluth earlier that morning, flew to the Hibbing airport, and traveled to the college by motorcade. They arrived at about 2 p.m. By this time I had snaked in line around the halls of the Physical Education building, passed through security, and stood on a hard gym floor for more than an hour about six rows back from the stage. As if on queue, volunteers passed out “Nolan for Congress” signs, just before the speakers took the stage.

Mostly students and retirees made up the crowd, estimated at about 700. One gentleman from Eveleth, who appeared to be close to 80 years of age, said he liked attending these types of political rallies. When asked what presidents he has seen in person, he started with President Harry Truman and worked his way through most of the presidents to Bill Clinton. He then listed many other presidential candidates he had seen and heard.

Biden repeated the oft-heard rip over the family wealth of Nolan’s opponent, but did not mention his name once, referring to Stewart Mills as Nolan’s “opponent.”

He said Democrats believe in the American Dream and achieve that by building a ladder and climbing it one rung at a time. “Middle class isn’t a number,” he said, his voice raising many decibels. “It’s about a value system.” He praised the steelworkers in the audience. “You stand with people who stood with you.”

In the rally’s opening remarks, State Rep. Jason Metsa, of Virginia, likened Biden to an Iron Ranger, even calling for the crowd to adopt him as one of their own. I, for one, would invite Uncle Joe to my house for Thanksgiving dinner. He truly is one of us.