Joe Biden’s DNC curtain call is a ‘bittersweet’ moment for his staunchest Scranton supporters

CHICAGO — More than anything, Grace McGregor Cramer hopes Joe Biden feels the love.

The Scranton resident, who lives on the same street that the president once lived on in his childhood hometown, is eager for the roar that will likely greet Biden from party faithful grateful for his sacrifice.

“It’s one of the most selfless things, and it really solidifies his legacy and just makes me prouder to claim him as a Scrantonian,” said Cramer, one of about 200 Pennsylvania delegates to the Democratic National Convention.

Biden left the presidential race last month after Democrats looking at his slumping approval ratings and stagnant poll numbers became convinced he was incapable of winning a rematch with former President Donald Trump.

His speech Monday night caps nearly half a century in politics, and is expected to stress that Harris is the right person to continue the campaign against Trump. It will also set the tone for his final months in office, in which Biden will aim to shore up his legacy. First lady Jill Biden, who grew up in Montgomery County, is also expected to speak Monday.

While Biden’s popularity has not increased in polls, on Monday he’s due to get a hero’s welcome as he addresses the convention on its first day and sets the tone by passing a historic torch to Vice President Kamala Harris. Harris is the first Black woman and the first Asian American person to serve as a major party nominee, and if elected in November, she’ll make history as the first woman president.

The political curtain call for Biden will hold personal significance for Pennsylvanians, particularly Scrantonians who have had — at least figuratively — a direct line from their home to the White House during his eight years as vice president and during his presidency. Biden’s political brand has also long been rooted in his Scranton upbringing.

People from Scranton tend to pronounce the president’s full name with a slight regional twang like it’s one word – Juhbiden. There’s a boulevard running through town named after him. He visits often, most recently in April of this year and most famously on Election Day in 2020 when he signed the wall of his childhood home in Greenridge: “from this house to the White House by the grace of God.”

“To be one of the very few cities in America that can boast being the hometown of the president of the United States has been incredibly special,” Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti, a Democratic delegate said. “While I’ll always be a little sad about him not going for a second term, I think he did the right thing and now we have the opportunity to truly start celebrating him and his legacy.”

Cognetti said the city is making a push for his presidential library. Marywood College, which practically abuts his old house, would be a smart location, she said.

Republicans see an opening in the northeastern part of the state and perhaps in white working-class areas nationally that are similar to it, without Biden on the ballot. Trump held a rally in Wilkes-Barre this past weekend and on Monday made remarks in York.

“There’s no hometown kid on the ballot anymore,” Gene Ziemba, who chairs the Luzerne County GOP, said last week. “There’s an opportunity.”

Delegates from Scranton and the region overwhelmingly reported momentum for Harris from Democrats in the area.

In Chicago this week, Andrew Cutillo, 33, another delegate from Scranton, marveled at how intertwined the city and the president have become.

“He is and continues to be a singular figure in Scranton’s story, so it’s bittersweet,” Cutillo said. “But Joe Biden passed the torch to Kamala Harris and now Scranton passes the torch to Oakland.”

Biden has faced some scrutiny from the GOP over how long-lasting roots can be to a place he left when he was 10, but he’s remained connected to people there.

And the Pennsylvania delegation is full of people from across the state who have gotten to know the president personally over the years. When he was Delaware’s senator, he was often referred to as the third senator from Pennsylvania. Electoral politics have made frequent trips to the state a necessity in recent election cycles.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro hailed Biden Monday as “an outstanding patriot, a great American, and a guy who knew how to get a whole lot of stuff done over decades in Washington.” Shapiro, a rising star in the party, also promised to do everything he can to make sure Biden’s “legacy is protected, not just during this election cycle.”

The Pennsylvania delegation’s oldest member, Angie Gialloreto, 95, from Allegheny County, has attended every Democratic National Convention since Jimmy Carter was the nominee in 1976. Gialloreto got to know Biden over the years and became one of his most ardent defenders when enthusiasm for him was lagging in the spring. She had “Joe’s Girls” shirts made to show support.

When Harris became the nominee, she had “For Harris” added to the back of the tees.

“Joe and I have been friends from the time he was going to run for Senate,” Gialloreto said in a video posted to the Harris campaign’s social media accounts. “But before God takes me, this woman’s going to be the pride and joy of the United States of America,” she said of Harris.

Most small-city mayors don’t see the president of the United States as much as Scranton’s does. Cognetti’s interactions with Biden have ranged from a trip to County Mayo, Ireland to their most recent parting at a Turkey Hill near Scranton after a campaign speech.

On that visit, she recalled asking Biden if there was a mirror in the presidential limousine after the two loaded into the car following lunch at a cafe. Biden told her there was not.

“I said, ‘Well at some point there’s going to be a woman president, and I imagine there will be a mirror back here,’” she said.

“I didn’t know the possibility for it would happen as quickly as we now hope.”