Biden: A President in the Making, Part Two

DELAWARE – Without question getting the country back together will take working across party lines, and from speaking with those who have served with president-elect Joe Biden in Congress on in the White House there may be no one better at doing than him.

“He really believes in us, he has an optimism about America and the American people that I don’t see in a lot of people who’ve got as much experience as he does,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del).

“Amazingly he’s been able to work with people you’d never imagine a Democrat could work within the other party and that includes Mitch (McConnell),” said Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del) “There’s some kind of mutual understanding or trust between the two of them. Not a strong friendship maybe, but the ability to work together and to get things done.”

In Sen. Carper’s words, Biden is the embodiment of the golden rule ‘treat others the way you want to be treated.’ But along with that, he says he’s seen firsthand how Biden can get things done telling us how when he was Governor,  the then-Senator Biden fought in Congress against all odds to make sure Delaware got revenues for unclaimed properties that were incorporated in the state.

“Joe Biden I think he went one on one with every senator and said ‘don’t you do this to my state because if you do you’ll regret it and it worked’. Imagine that. Legislation co-sponsored by more than half the Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate never got out of committee, who woulda thunk it,” said Sen. Carper.

Biden’s ability to work across the aisle didn’t end when he left the Senate for the White House. In fact, if anything those who watched him said he only got better. During 2009 and the height of the Great Recession,  Gov. Jack Markell said Biden was instrumental in the rollout of the Economic Recovery Act. Often speaking to several governors at the same time to make sure all their questions were answered and that the money was being invested so that people could be put back to work.

“He took as much time as we needed he said if we have any questions to ask him on the spot, call his cellphone. He would get back to us as soon as he could, and he did, and I can tell you I wasn’t surprised by any of this because I knew him, the other governors included the Republican governors were really, really impressed by how he handled this whole thing,” said Gov. Markell.

Aside from his ability to work between parties those who have seen Biden work abroad believe he will immediately have an impact on our foreign relations.

“Joe Biden is well known and well regarded around the world. Folks who are our adversaries are clear how well informed he is, how well-schooled he is in their actions against us and the threats they pose to our way of life and our closest allies will be cheering his return to leadership and his role in the White House because he’s known every one of them for years,” said Sen. Chris Coons (D- Del).

An example of just how well he’s respected came when Gov. Jack Markell was doing economic work in Bosnia prior to him taking office. As he tells it, the first day his translator barely made any small talk but that soon changed because of Biden.

“The second day I said where you from and I said Delaware and her entire effect changed, she said ‘oh we know Delaware because we know Joe Biden and he was the only one who fought for us’,” said Gov. Markell.

But despite all the qualities that Biden may bring to the table. At the end of the day as the president-elect has said it’s going to take all of us coming together as Americans as a family to fix this nation. And as Sen. Coons says who better to help us do that than a family man from Delaware like Joe Biden.

“He’s never forgotten who he is, where he’s from, and who he’s fighting for. And family is incredibly important to him, and I think that oughta mean something to the rest of us because family helps hold us together and helps define who we are as a country,” said Sen. Coons said.