PITTSBURGH — Joe Biden did something here he’s never done before:
He walked on to the dais at a union hall as the leading man of the Democratic Party. At least for the moment, Biden sits atop the crowded Democratic field, according to the polls.
The other times he’s run, in both 1988 and 2008, he never rose to the top. This time he has. So now he becomes a target for both the press and his rivals. Will he wither or shine under the scrutiny?
Biden has shown early on that not only can he raise the same kind of money as both Bernie Sanders and Beto O’Rourke, he can exceed it. He brought in more than $6.3 million in the first 24 hours of his video announcement last week, so far the biggest haul of any 2020 candidate in one day.
The campaign was thrilled to note that this didn’t merely come from existing Obama emailing lists: 61% of donors were new supporters.
The Democratic Party right now is having an anti-establishment moment similar to what Republicans faced in 2016. With newer and fresher faces such as Pete Buttigieg and Kamala Harris also in the crowded field, can Biden overcome that?
Robert “Bo” Garritano is fairly confident he can despite his gold star establishment status.
The retired high school principal attended Biden’s speech in Pittsburgh on Monday, standing toward the rear so he could observe the entire spectacle. Garritano, 73, is already on board with Biden and feels confident about his chances in the crowded field.
“Everybody who is currently running has a point of view, which is really cool. And what I like about that is that everybody’s getting their ideas out and the Democratic Party can blend and pull it together, stick with our core values. Once we do that we’re right on track and I think Biden is the guy to pull that all together,” said Garritano.
“I’m all in for him, because he sounds exactly like my era, but he’s progressive, too. He’s a guy that’s not afraid to say, ‘I did something wrong and I’m going to change.’ He won’t lie to us,” he said.
Jackie Zimmer has not settled on any candidate yet. The 42-year-old mother with 14-year-old twins was attending the Biden event with her four-month old son Grayson in her arms.
What was interesting was what Zimmer said was what her criteria was for the person who would earn her support; “Truthfully, the most important issue is who can pull the independents and who can pull the Democrats that we kind of lost in the last election,” she said.
“In short, who is winnable,” she said.
Zimmer said that could be Biden, but then again it could be someone else. “There are a couple of candidates that I’m checking out, listening to everybody and I’m going to make a decision once I get a little more informed.”
If Biden is successful then the Democratic Party would have been able to put back together the Obama-Biden coalition of women voters, minorities, and just enough white working-class voters that could challenge President Trump’s conservative populist coalition that emerged as a powerful force in 2016.
Union officials at Biden’s rally worry that if Biden is crippled from within his own party, and the more progressive corner of the party prevails, they will lose their union families to the Republican Party for a generation.
“That is what is at stake here today,” said Ralph Sicuro, the president of the local International Fire Fighters Association.
“It is also what at stake for the election.”
