Biden Campaigns in North Carolina

Teresa gets a selfie with Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden at a campaign event in Durham, North Carolina. 

From 2009 until 2017, Joe Biden served as Vice President of the United States under President Barack Obama. Before that, Biden represented Delaware in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades.

Now, at age 76, the lifelong Democrat is running for president. Many people question whether there is enough excitement around Biden’s candidacy and even whether he has enough stamina to serve as president. Still, he is one of the top contenders in a large Democratic field. The nominee chosen from that field in the primary elections will run against Republican President Donald J. Trump in 2020. 

On October 27, Biden held a campaign rally at Hillside High School in Durham, North Carolina. Hillside High is the oldest of the 300 historically Black schools in the state before desegregation. In 1956, during the civil rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech there.

Teresa covers the Biden rally at Hillside High School in Durham. 

“MAKE AMERICA DECENT AGAIN”

Hundreds of Biden supporters attended the event. They waved fans that read “I’m a Fan of Joe.” At one point, Biden donned a hat that said, “Make America Decent Again.” The message refers to Trump's “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan, which is considered by many to be divisive because it disregards a past that marginalized many people, notably African Americans. 

Biden acknowledged Durham’s role in the civil rights movement. “Y’all began it here,” he said. “The rest of the country owes Durham.”

Biden spoke about the 1957 Royal Ice Cream sit-in, when seven nonviolent African-American protesters sat down at an all-white lunch counter. The action led to a court case on the legality of segregated public facilities. 

Biden and his supporters capture a moment at a North Carolina campaign event. 

“WHO WE ARE NOW”

Biden hopes to advance the health care act that was passed under President Obama and make it even more effective. He also hopes to bolster the image of the U.S. as a world leader and revitalize the middle class. 

“I think Biden’s a good candidate to go up against Trump,” said 11-year-old Alex Erling of Durham. “He supports women’s rights. He supports Medicare [a health insurance program for elderly people]. He supports a lot of things that Trump doesn’t.”

Duke University freshman Adrianna Williams, who also attended the rally, said that the 2020 Election will be the first in which she is eligible to vote. “I’m thinking a lot about my future,” she said. “I care a lot about the world I’m going to live in.”

Biden ended the rally by saying, "This has to be a movement grounded in our values and ideals that defined us as a nation in the first place. It has to be a movement that stands up for who we are and what we believe because the rest of the world is wondering who we are now.” 

The fifth Democratic debate will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 20. That is also Biden’s birthday.