Closing argument
Democratic candidate makes his final pitch in Cleveland
CLEVELAND – Former Vice President Joe Biden asked Ohio voters to do something they did when they elected him on a ticket with former President Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012: trust him.
Biden noted President Donald Trump’s allusion at a campaign event Sunday that he would fire Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after the election.
“I’ve got a better idea: Elect me and I’m going to hire Dr. Fauci and I’m going to fire Donald Trump,” the Democrat said.
“I’m running as a proud Democrat, but I’ll govern as an American president,” Biden said, repeating a frequent pledge in what will go down as the final event in Ohio for the 2020 presidential campaign.
“I promise you I’ll work as hard for those who don’t support me as those who do. That’s the job of an American president.”
Speaking to a drive-in crowd in an open hangar at Burke Lakefront Airport in Cleveland, Biden said the country would show on Election Day that it is done with anger and division that he said has been sown by President Donald Trump.
“My message is simple: The power to change the country is in your hands. I don’t care how much Donald Trump tries, there’s nothing he’s going to do to stop the people of this nation from voting,” he said. “Presidents don’t get to determine who votes – voters get to determine who’s president.”
Biden made his stop in Cleveland, where many attendees stood outside their cars, on a chilly day along Lake Erie. The last-minute Ohio visit came
“I promise you I’ll work as hard for those who don’t support me as those who do. That’s the job of an American president.” Joe Biden
after devoting much of his weekend to Pennsylvania, a key battleground where his campaign will spend the rest of election eve.
“When (U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown) tells me to come to Ohio the day before, I come,” Biden joked, referring to Brown’s reelection victory in 2018.
During his 25 minutes of remarks, Biden excoriated Trump’s response to the pandemic, the economy, foreign policy and other issues, calling Trump “a disgrace” and referring to him as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “puppy.”
Biden criticized Trump for not wearing a mask himself and said, if elected, he would implement a strategy to beat the virus that includes masks, social distancing, testing and contact tracing along with “fair, full and free distribution of therapeutics and a vaccine when we get one.”
“The first step to beating the virus is beating Donald Trump,” Biden told a honking crowd of cars.
The former vice president also reminded the crowd about the ways he said Trump has wronged Ohio, including the loss of General Motors’ Lordstown assembly plant after his promise to restore manufacturing jobs, and his “threat and grudge” against Goodyear.
Biden promised to protect the Affordable Care Act, accusing Republicans of stacking the U.S. Supreme Court to defeat Obamacare. He said he would build on the legislation and give Americans the choice between keeping their private insurance or a public option similar to Medicare. “It’s going to cost more money but guess how I’m going to pay for it? Trump’s going to start paying some taxes,” Biden said, again pledging he would raise taxes only on those who make $400,000 or more.
In the final weeks of the campaign, Ohio returned to its once-presumed battleground status. Trump won Ohio by more than 8 percentage points in 2016, but recent polls showed the state was looking more like a battleground.
“Joe Biden’s last-minute visit to the Buckeye State does not change a thing. For 47 years, Biden’s empty promises failed hard-working Ohioans, but in 47 months, President Trump’s promises made, promises kept agenda has bolstered the state’s economy and supported its industries. Ohioans will make their choice clear when they turn out in huge numbers to re-elect President Trump on Tuesday,” said Dan Lusheck, a Trump campaign spokesman for Ohio, in a prepared statement.
Biden’s stop in Cleveland drew about 100 vehicles, many of them brandishing Biden-harris campaign signs. Democratic elected officials from around the state also were in attendance, including all four of the state’s Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Sen. Brown.
Youngstown Mayor Jamal Tito Brown said he is “cautiously optimistic” that Ohio will turn blue, but he expects a close election.
In the Mahoning Valley, circumstances haven’t gotten better as Trump promised voters when he told them not to sell their houses because manufacturing jobs would return, he said.
“I think those who voted last time, they have some buyer’s remorse. There’s a track record. I think this election gives us an opportunity to have true leadership in the White House,” he said.
Before Biden’s arrival in Cleveland, Trump supporter Adam Radogna circled the airport parking lot, at times blaring music, in a pickup truck with a Trump campaign flag in the bed and “Trump 2020” and “Back the Blue” written on the doors. He was joined eventually by other Trump caravaners in sedans and convertibles – tops down on a 37-degree morning.
“Just giving him a little welcome and telling him Ohio is for Trump basically in 2020,” said Radogna of Brook Park, a Cleveland suburb. Radogna said voting for Trump is “a given.”
“He cares about our country. He’s definitely worked hard for us. I care for what he believes in and what he does,” he said rrouan@dispatch.com @Rickrouan