Sen. Joe Biden visited Nesbitt Park in Wilkes-Barre last Thursday. The vice-presidential candidate touched on the main points of Obama’s platform and tailored the agenda to the citizens of Wilkes-Barre and surrounding areas. He appealed to the crowd with references to Congressman Dan Flood and Hurricane Agnes which flooded the valley in 1972.
During the speech, Sen. Biden addressed the dilemmas facing Pennsylvanians and advocated that Democrats would be able to fix overwhelming health insurance costs, oppressive college loans, and unemployment increases. The Obama platform promises to restructure the insurance system, and help blue collar workers get ahead financially.
Sen. Biden touched on the burden of college loans. He believes that affordable college tuition is essential to progress in America, and said that every college aged student, under the Obama plan, would receive four thousand dollars offset tuition costs.
Biden referenced the economic crisis and working to help Main Street. These tough economic times have hit the middle class hard, especially blue-collar workers in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Recently, Biden and Obama expressed hope that the economic bailout plan would pass despite the objections of many Americans.
While it is widely known that Sen. Biden is a longtime friend of Senator John McCain, Biden did not hide the fact that he and McCain disagree on many issues crucial in this election. Biden noted that John McCain completely reversed his economic position from “the fundamentals of the economy are strong” to ‘the economy is in great danger’ just two hours later. Sen. Biden joked, “That is what we as Catholics call an epiphany,” which drew a laugh from the crowd of just over 500.
Sen. Biden came to Wilkes-Barre to sway undecided voters, especially working class Catholic Democrats. He thanked all of the veterans in attendance for their service for the country. Biden made it clear that the next administration would have to do something to deal with the over-whelming number of veterans coming back from the Middle East with life-altering injuries. Biden also stressed that veterans need access to better healthcare and financial advisement.
Senator Joe Biden stayed for about twenty minutes after his speech ended to shake hands and take pictures with potential voters. Senator Biden hails from Scranton, and we will no doubt see him in the region again.
Pennsylvania is a crucial swing state. It will be difficult for the Obama-Biden ticket to win the White House if Pennsylvania doesn’t stay blue. We can be sure that both party’s candidates will make at least one more stop in Northeastern Pennsylvania, the region that may be key to winning the state. |
