The Democratic presidential candidate has stayed very close to the city of Delaware, where he has spent his entire political career. The inhabitants appreciate it for its human warmth, even if the divisions which cross the country do not spare it. Reportage.
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In Wilmington, Joe Biden is part of the heritage. In this little Delaware town a tiny state on the east coast of the United States, most of the roughly 70,000 residents know it at least by name. This is where the Democrat lives and leads his presidential campaign, in an opulent mansion protected by tall trees and the black SUVs of Secret Service agents.
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Throughout his career as a Delaware senator – 36 years – and his two terms of vice-president, Joe Biden maintained an “extraordinary connection” with the region, said Martin Willis, a local Democratic delegate. “In Delaware, politicians are called by their first name. When Joe Biden was vice president and returned to Wilmington for a few days, he alerted the local media first. Otherwise, he would not come back to the supermarket, “jokes this 54-year-old engineer.
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Mini-markets, restaurants, cinema … Joe Biden has his habits all over Wilmington. “I met him in my mother’s church”, says Martin Willis, Catholic like him. “My sister saw him all the time at the ice cream parlor at Rehoboth Beach, further south.” If this delegate, who attended the Democratic convention in August, is so enthusiastic, it is because he is sure that his candidate will return the favor to the inhabitants if he is elected. “When he sets foot in the White House, Delaware too. People I know will go and work at the West Wing,” he says.
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“He looks normal”
In Wilmington, all the residents who appreciate Joe Biden are unanimous: it is a “good guy”. “I met him when he was vice-president,” says Iren Biklarian, manager of the Claymont Steak Shop, a sandwich shop where the candidate has his habits. “He was very humble, he stood in line like everyone else. He took pictures with the whole team and signed autographs. He is a very friendly and sympathetic person ”. In short: “He looks normal.”
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This proximity to the public is reinforced by the personal tragedies that struck him. In 1972, when he had just been elected senator at the age of 29, his wife was killed in a car accident which also took away her baby girl. “Even though he worked very hard for Delaware and the country, he decided to commute every day between Wilmington and Washington to make sure his other two sons had some semblance of a normal life“Says Cassandra Marshall, the patron of the local Democratic Party.” Our community made sure to let him mourn in peace, “she adds.
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She remembers in particular that after the death of her mother in 2010, fundamentalist Christians came to demonstrate at the time of the funeral. “We, the inhabitants, have formed a circle around these illuminated so that the family does not see them.” In 2015, it was her son, Beau, who died of cancer. The eulogy was given by Barack Obama at a Wilmington church where thousands of residents gathered to offer their condolences.
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“Joe Biden? He’s our man!”
Joe Biden’s friendship with the first African-American president makes him particularly popular with the black community. In the western districts of the city, where the small, somewhat decrepit workers’ houses line up, the eyes of the inhabitants light up as soon as their name is spoken. “Joe Biden? He’s our man!”exclaims Tyron Bailey, a maintenance worker who talks to a neighbor at midday. “I have already voted for him twice,” said the 59-year-old African-American. “I met him during my first job at the Janssen’s supermarket where he often goes. Everyone called him by his first name. ‘Joe here, Joe there.’ My mission was to fill the bags with groceries: he gave me a tip of 50 dollars and told me to keep doing a good job. He is someone who loves people, human contact. Regardless of the color of his skin, he loves everyone. “
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Joe Biden’s friendship with the first African-American president makes him particularly popular with the black community.
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In another black neighborhood of Wilmington, Charles Johnson picks up cans to deliver them to the locker near a large park surrounding a swimming pool. “That’s where Joe Biden was a lifeguard when he was young. That’s why they renamed it in his name,” he recalls. “Joe Biden was indeed the only white man working in this pool at the time, and he later said that he learned a lot from this experience, while America was still suffering from racial segregation. “I like Joe Biden, he’s a good guy who comes from the area. He gets along well with black people because he is friendly,” adds Charles Johnson, pushing his cart.
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Not everyone agrees with him. A few meters away, Jacqueline Conaway finishes her jog in the park. This 37-year-old African American never forgave Joe Biden his opposition to the practice of “busing” (bus transport of black children to schools in white neighborhoods to promote racial diversity). “When I was ten, I had to walk for over an hour to my school, located in a white suburb. Our parents campaigned non-stop for us to get a school bus. We ended up getting it. , but much too late. ” And grievances continue. “As vice president, he did nothing. No hike the minimum wage to $ 15 an hour as demanded. He passed laws that were not in favor of black people like me. ” Result: this progressive will vote for the Green Party, the green party. “Most African Americans who vote for him are not well aware of his record. You only have to look on the internet to see it.”
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“He’s someone who loves people, human touch. No matter what skin color, he loves everyone.”
Charles Johnson
Wilmington resident
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“A decent man”
Erik Anderson, a 29-year-old white engineer, also ranks among the progressives. But he can’t stand to hear that kind of talk. “I’m not super excited about voting for Joe Biden but I know he’s a decent man”, he argues near the restaurant Gianni’s Pizza where the candidate went after announcing the start of his campaign. “I will vote more against Donald Trump than for Joe Biden. Being on the left in the United States is painful,” he jokes. “I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primaries but I admit that Donald Trump is a serious threat to democracy. I hope those who refused to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 won’t make the same mistake. This attitude of saying, ‘I will not vote for the lesser evil because it remains the evil’, is very childish.“
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“I will vote more against Donald Trump than for Joe Biden. Being on the left in the United States is painful.”
Erik Anderson
Wilmington resident
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According to him, “Political polarization has eaten away at some of Joe Biden’s political capital, even here in Wilmington. Many factories have closed in the area and have been relocated. This had a negative effect on the electorate. Some attribute these problems, not entirely wrongly, to the pro-free trade policies that Joe Biden supported. “
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More globally, it is the long career of the septuagenarian that disturbs some inhabitants, tired of the political class as a whole. Joe Biden bears the scars of what is called here the “Delaware way”, the very special way that local politicians have to compromise. “It’s a double-edged sword,” says Samuel Hoff, professor of history and political science at Delaware State University. “This can be seen as a form of cooperation, a way of settling disputes without insult and hate. But it’s also criticized as a lack of transparency, a way to work behind the scenes. “Thus, Joe Biden’s friendly relations with all walks of life in Delaware, from working-class neighborhoods to bourgeois galas, are both a strength and a weakness.
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“We can’t say anything more”
The boss of Gianni’s Pizza, Gianni Esposito, confides that he is wary of Joe Biden as well as of Donald Trump. “I prefer to stay out of politics. They fight but they are very rich. We the people have to work hard and sweat to pay the bills. Politicians just talk but don’t act. They only think of themselves and their friends. To little people, they only give the crumbs.“Gianni Esposito said that Joe Biden’s presence at his home was a” good publicity stunt “even though that day in April 2019,” there were so many reporters that my clients couldn’t get in. ” But he is careful not to show his support. “At the pizzeria, people talk little about politics. We can’t say anything more. As soon as one says something, the other side feels offended. There are so many divisions in this country. If you say you vote for Trump, you are called a racist. If you like Biden, you’re stupid. Then me? I vote for myself! “
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“A lot of factories have closed in the area and have been relocated. Some attribute these problems, not entirely wrongly, to the pro-free trade policies that Joe Biden supported.”
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Even those who know Joe Biden personally don’t automatically give him their support. Lee Murphy, a former “House of Cards” actor who converted to politics, is running for Congress this year under the Republican banner. Before becoming an actor, Lee Murphy was a train conductor for 35 years. “Joe Biden took the train every day between Washington and Delaware. Sometimes when I got to Wilmington he would drive me home and vice versa. i never voted for him and i never will“, he assures, seated in an Italian restaurant. If he remembers that “in the 1990s, we could still be friends” despite differences in beliefs, he notes that it is over today: “We are forever in two opposing camps”.
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The last days, a local controversy illustrated this polarization between these two Americas that we find up to Joe Biden’s stronghold. 68-year-old artist Tom Burke has installed a birdhouse in a park representing Wilmington station, named after Joe Biden, on one side, and the White House on the other. “I added signs: ‘On the road with Biden’ and ‘This train is heading for glory’. This did not please the Republican Party, which complained to the owners of the land and the nest box was removed, “regrets Tom Burke, surprised by the extent of the controversy, a sign according to him that the country is divided.” It’s just a birdhouse! “He sighs. From the garage where he has set up his workshop, Tom Burke does not lose hope. He imagines his creation in the gardens of the White House, “where the Obamas set up swings for their daughters”. And why not, one day, a return to Delaware, to a future presidential library?
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