Celebrations restrained – but relief was palpable
It had been a long week, and an even longer four years. Among Joe Biden’s supporters who watched his victory speech in Delaware there was, more than triumphalism, a sense of overwhelming relief, a kind of post-trump shock syndrome.
They sat on car roofs toasting victory, and danced to George Michael’s Freedom, but the mood was restrained. This was not a Super Bowl-winning type of celebration.
Everyone wore a mask, some emblazoned with the Biden-harris logo, and many remained socially distanced. One man repeatedly raised his arm in the air yelling “Science!” while children ran around chanting “Go Joe Biden!” An enormous US flag, hoisted from two cranes, fluttered overhead.
Wilmington is a small place and many local people have known the Biden family in some capacity over the decades.
Kathy Butterbaugh, 60, an actress who taught drama to Mr Biden’s granddaughters, brought a life-size cardboard cut-out of the new president-elect to the speech, which was delivered in the car park of a convention centre overlooking the Christina River.
“I’m just glad we don’t have to feel embarrassed for America any more,” said Ms Butterbaugh. “Joe has class and that’s what I want America to have, compassion and class.
“I think the worst bit with Trump was every time he got history wrong. If you’re president, read the speech the speech writers wrote. Don’t go off script and say stuff that’s just wrong.
“I just hope both sides can come together now to make a wonderful place for America and the world. Being America we’re supposed to be better, and we haven’t been.”
Biden backers waved blue glow sticks and hand-scrawled signs with messages like “Go Joe”, but there were few aggressively anti-trump ones.
Mr Biden’s message that it was “time to heal” appeared to resonate, at least with his hometown crowd.
“Joe’s a good guy,” said Jim Meek, 78, who had seen the president-elect at church in the past. Mr Biden once wrote a letter to Mr Meek’s wife thanking her for her work at a local hospital.
He said: “Joe Biden is diametrically opposite to the current resident of the White House. I’m amazed that so many people didn’t see that. He’s a normal person, not of the elite. There’s a sense of decency about him.”
But he added: “I think it’s going to be very hard for him to unify [the country].”
Wilmington is the most populous city in the state of Delaware, but only has 70,000 people. The Pennsylvania border is just a few miles to the north, and just beyond that lie the suburbs of Philadelphia, which were so crucial in winning Mr Biden the election.
Mr Biden’s home town is 58 per cent black and his crowd reflected that.
Yvonne Mason, 50, a bank manager, was moved to tears seeing Kamala Harris, the vice-president-elect, take to the stage alongside Mr Biden.
“It’s a great feeling,” she said. “As a person of colour to know that Kamala is the first makes me see that it’s possible. When we were young they would tell us ‘You can be anything you want to be’. But, it’s real for us now. This makes it real. We can believe it.”
Ms Mason was carrying a sign saying “Black Woman VP for me. Hooray.” She said: “The worst part for the last four years has been our men getting gunned down in the street. It’s been normalised. That’s not normal.
“Trump made it acceptable for white supremacists to be out in the open. I’m not surprised at him not making a [concession] speech. It doesn’t matter to me, I wouldn’t expect anything else from him. But January 20, he will leave.
“I hope we have togetherness now. I want the division gone. My hope is to see we are all one.”
Trish Lawler, 58, said four years ago she had been stunned by Mr Trump’s win because she didn’t know a single person who voted for him.
But then, many people who she had known from a Catholic private school, and college, started revealing they had.
“As he got loud and proud they started coming out of hiding,” she said.
“I’ve had difficulty with friendships. Joe is totally the right person to lead the country so that we don’t end up in a civil war.”
Mr Biden’s campaign has restricted his events due to coronavirus concerns and only 360 cars were allowed at his speech.
An overflow crowd of hundreds of people watched a bit further away, many not observing social distancing.
The president-elect took to the stage exactly 48 years to the day since the tiny state of Delaware first sent him to the US Senate.
He jogged on to stage, giving a restrained fist-pump, as Bruce Springsteen’s Hungry Heart played.
On stage Mr Biden made it a family affair. After his speech, his son, Hunter, 50, walked on carrying his infant son, and the president-elect took the baby.
Mr Biden was also joined by his daughter Ashley, and his grandchildren, along with Kamala Harris’s two step-children.
The new first and second families watched as fireworks and confetti went off, Tina Turner’s Simply the Best played and drone lights in the sky spelt out “Biden” and “46’, in reference to him becoming the 46th president. People chanted “USA, USA, USA”, but it was at a much lower volume than at a Trump rally.
Pat Heffernan, 59, dressed as Uncle Sam with a flashing top hat said: “We’re having some drinks. We feel a sense of relief.”
‘I just hope both sides can come together now to make a wonderful place for America and the world. Being America we’re supposed to be better’