Biden calls for political civility while speaking in support of Lamb
In pointing to a fundamental problem with American politics as he sees it, Joe Biden told about a dilemma his executive assistant faced.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
“She has three young girls,” the former vice president told his audience at the Carpenters Training Center in Collier Township. “She had to turn the debates off because she didn’t want her children hearing what was being said.”
Speaking at a March 6 rally in support of Conor Lamb, the Democratic candidate for Pennsylvania’s 18th District in the U.S. House of Representatives, Biden addressed the growing lack of civility among politicians of both major parties.
“You’re going to have a hard time finding a Republican national figure who has anything negative to say about me,” Biden said. “They don’t agree with me. But I’ve never questioned their motive.”
Doing so, he asserted, damages the possibility of consensus.
Harry Funk / The Almanac
“When I start off by saying, ‘You’re in the pocket of …’ or ‘You’re being bought off by …’ or ‘You’re immoral’ or ‘You’re not a Christian,’ it’s awful hard for me to get to a place where we can reach an agreement,” he said.
Regarding Lamb, Biden continued:
“He knows this. And he’s a big enough man that no matter what’s said about him, he can still reach across the aisle.”
Lamb, a Mt. Lebanon resident, is facing off against state Rep. Rick Saccone, R-Elizabeth Township, in a special March 13 election that has drawn considerable attention countrywide, with the nation’s top two elected officials traveling to Western Pennsylvania to back the GOP candidate.
The venue for Lambs rally, located on the campus of the Greater PA Regional Council of Carpenters headquarters, represented a nod to a traditionally strong base of support for Democrats.
“I don’t think there’s another person in public life today who knows, in his bones, the struggles that working people face like Vice President Biden does,” Lamb said. “He knows who built this country, and he understands and embodies the values and principles that still make our nation a beacon of hope in this world.”
Harry Funk / The Almanac
A Scranton native who served as a U.S. Senator from Delaware for 36 years, Biden addressed the need for more vocational educational opportunities, such as those offered at the Carpenters Training Center, to help strengthen the American workforce.
“Not all kids should or want to go to college,” he said. “But you know, the 16-week program can teach someone to run a photovoltaic machine that they didn’t know how to run before, or someone who just lost their job, and still make 60 grand.”
He also spoke about another potential source of job creation on a national basis.
“If we build just the infrastructure needed – highways, bridges, sidewalks, etc. – you realize we can put over 2 million people to work right away, at a wage that is a living wage,” Biden said, stressing that in his opinion, such efforts should be pursued by governmental entities instead of involving other, for-profit concerns.
“Public-private, hell,” he retorted. “It’s private-private.”
By Harry Funk
Staff writer
hfunk@thealmanac.net
The results from the March 13 special election were too late for this edition of The Almanac. Go online to www.thealmanac.net to read more about the outcome of the 18th Congressional District election.