Opinion: Why Joe Biden went to Pennsylvania first
By Jennifer Rubin Jennifer Rubin Opinion writer covering politics and policy, foreign and domestic Email Bio Follow Opinion writer April 30 at 9:00 AM Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will get to the early primary states soon enough, but first things first. For Biden, the former vice president, that means going to Pennsylvania, which President Trump won in 2016 and without which he may find it impossible to win reelection.
Hours after announcing that his Pittsburgh-based International Association of Fire Fighters was endorsing Joe Biden for president, union president Harold Schaitberger kicked off the first rally of Mr. Biden’s quest for the Democratic nomination at a Lawrenceville union hall Monday to chants from the crowd of “We want Joe!” Pennsylvania, Democratic strategist James Carville, famously said, is “Paoli and Penn Hills with Alabama in between.
Biden talks to the audience as one of their neighbors, not a sophisticate or slick politician. “I’ve been referred to as Middle Class Joe, it’s not always meant as a compliment. It’s usually that I’m not sophisticated," he said."That’s why I’m Middle Class Joe. But the fact of the matter is, I’m awfully sophisticated about how, why, and who built this country.”
He has a crisp, simple proposal — a $15 minimum wage, banning non-compete agreements for low-wage workers and a Medicare buy-in. For good measure, he threw darts at occupational licensing, a favorite target of conservative reformers.
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