Her Husband Works Toward Nov. 3, but Jill Biden Tells WI Crowds to Dream of Nov. 4

With 36 days until Election Day, Dr. Jill Biden encourages voters to continue involvement in registering voters, making calls for the party. 

No more watching the evening news with a pit in your stomach or tense shoulders. No more worrying whether you will be safe at work because of an ongoing pandemic, with no national plan. And no more dreading what is going on in the world.

That’s the country Americans will wake up in if Joe Biden defeats President Donald Trump, according to Biden’s wife, Dr. Jill Biden. 

“For the first time in a long time you take a deep breath, and you feel hope,” Biden told a crowd of roughly 100 to 150 people Monday who gathered outside Daisy Cupcake Cafe in Madison to hear her speak. “That’s the Nov. 4 I want. And I know you do, too.” 

The campaign stop in one of Madison’s most progressive neighborhoods was Biden’s first of two appearances in the Badger State Monday. She was scheduled for a second stop in the town of Eagle near Waukesha later Monday afternoon. 

In stumping for her husband, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden, Jill Biden said her husband has a plan and the experience to end the coronavirus pandemic, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 200,000 Americans. 

Biden said her husband “has the empathy and the character” to bring the country back  and “heal our fractured communities.”

“He has the fortitude to build back better,” Biden told the crowd. “With his steady leadership, we can change the course of this nation.”

With the election in 36 days, the swing state of Wisconsin is beginning to host more frequent appearances by President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, the Bidens, and Democratic running mate Sen. Kamala Harris. 

Both Biden and Trump campaigned in Kenosha in September shortly after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha police offer. Blake is Black, the officer is white.

Biden also campaigned in Manitowoc last Monday. Pence most recently was in Eau Claire Thursday, and Trump announced he would be holding campaign events in Green Bay and La Crosse Saturday.  

Trump won Wisconsin by roughly 23,000 votes in 2016, making his victory the first time the state voted for a Republican presidential candidate since 1984.

Biden’s visit to Wisconsin comes one day after The New York Times published an article about Trump’s finances, including the fact he paid only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017. The Times also reported the president paid no federal federal income taxes in 11 of the past 18 years. 

Dr. Biden did not mention Trump’s tax records during her visit, but others did.

“I don’t have a golden toilet to sit on,” said Laura Hayden of Middleton. “I do have to think about things like how I am going to pay my rent. If something happened to my car, I would be sunk.”

Jennifer Howell of Madison said she, unlike Trump, has always paid her taxes. 

“I’ve always submitted my taxes in an honest fashion to pay what I owe to the government because it is my civic responsibility,” she said.

In closing, Biden made a plea to those in attendance to stay engaged during the final days leading up to the election by volunteering to make calls on behalf of Democrats, helping to register voters, or working on Election Day. 

“This is it. There are no do-overs,” Biden said. “This is the last shot to wake up on Nov. 4 and feel that hope.”