Democrats lined up hours early to hear Joe Biden speak for seven minutes at a rally in Kiener Plaza in downtown St. Louis on Saturday, March 7. Missouri voters go to the polls on Tuesday, March 10 for the Presidential Preference Primary. Though 22 Democratic candidates are on the Missouri ballot, the race has narrowed to Biden versus Bernie Sanders.
The crowd, which packed but did not throng the plaza, was diverse by any measure. Black voters who spoke to The American said they support Biden for a variety of reasons.
For Anthony Jones, 27, a sales associate, Biden is the pragmatic primary choice.
“I agree with Bernie on a lot of issues, but at the end of the day it’s about winning,” Jones said. “Biden reaches out to more moderate voters. We’ve got to get Trump out, and Joe Biden is the best candidate to do that. We have to win in November and stop the chaos.”
Sabrina Tyuse, 64, a social work professor at Saint Louis University (SLU), sounded a similar theme.
“Joe Biden exudes stability,” Tyuse said. “He can bring the country together. He is the unity candidate. He is our last, best hope to undo some of the damage Trump has done all around the world, including in the U.S.”
Myron Bumpus, 60, a freelance photographer, noted that Biden had served as vice president to President Barack Obama and also stressed his electability.
“Somebody’s got to get that doggone Trump out of the office, and he’s the best candidate to do it,” Bumpus said.
Melanie Galvin, 65, who works in information technology, also cited the Obama connection while speaking in more detail about policy.
“Trump pulled out of the Paris climate change accord — that is a disaster,” Galvin said. “We don’t live in this world alone.”
Indeed, when Biden finally spoke — an hour and a half later than scheduled — he said he would rejoin the Paris Agreement on his first day in office.
Galvin cited other issues — protecting national parks, extending access to health care — that Sanders also would support. But she is more confident that Biden would be effective. “Bernie is promising all these things he can’t deliver,” Galvin said.
James Turner, 18, a student at the University of Missouri St. Louis studying political science, cast the first vote of his life (absentee) for Biden the day before. He also believes that Biden can accomplish things because, he said, his family has experienced him do so already in the Obama administration.
“He had a big role in passing the stimulus package and the revival of the auto industry,” Turner said. “Obama relied on him a lot when my family saw a lot of growth. Those results excite me. It’s not just people talking.”
Juliet Ezepue, 37, a professor of global health at SLU, also cited Biden’s “breadth and experience” in accomplishing things. Her own experience as a global health researcher and world traveler made her especially determined to vote Trump out of office.
“When I travel now and say I am from America, the first thing that comes to mind is the president and they shake their head,” Ezepue said. “They say he acts like a dictator. Totalitarianism is what is happening in this country, when we’re supposed to be the beacon of hope and freedom. Biden can get us back there.”
When Biden finally spoke — briefly — he hit just about every one of these themes his supporters came to hear. He said he would unify the Democratic Party, beat Donald Trump, then unify the country. As president, he said, he would reinvest in public education, extend access to health care and repair our global alliances.
“The days of Donald Trump are almost over,” Biden said.
One noisy heckler did her best to disrupt the rally, loudly chanting, “No to crime bill Joe!” When several bystanders told her that Sanders also voted for the notorious crime bill of 1994, she turned and screamed, “That’s why we’re going to have four more years of Donald Trump!”
Though Biden could not possibly have heard this exchange, his comment from the stage was on point.
“These guys are doing exactly what Donald Trump does,” Biden said of the hecklers, “so don’t pay attention to them.”
