Joe is running in 2020.
Via Helena IR:
On a night meant to energize Democrats around the state of Montana, former Vice President Joe Biden spoke to a sold-out crowd about 1,300 people at the 40th annual Mansfield-Metcalf Dinner in Helena.
Biden took the stage late Saturday night, calling U.S. Sen. Jon Tester an authentic person and “a guy who looks like he can lift an ox out of a ditch.”
Tester’s re-election was one of the main focuses in an evening featuring party leaders and candidates, all of whom touched on the national political mood under Republican President Donald J. Trump but spent most of their time on hope for the future.
The event is the main Democratic gathering and fundraiser each year and was broadcast to the party’s central committees around the state, executive director Nancy Keenan said.
Biden said the nation has been as — or more — divided before, such as during the Vietnam area. But the country’s politics have never been more polarized.
“So what’s wrong?” he said. “Our politics is broken. Because of gerrymandering and unlimited money in campaigns.”
In a wide-ranging speech, Biden touched on issues he’s championed throughout his career, such as the stability of the middle class, legislation like the Affordable Care Act, veterans issues and preserving social safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. In touching on each issue, Biden told the crowd that Tester was the candidate who would stand up for those issues.
“That’s something Jon gets,” Biden said. “Jon knows that being middle class is not a number… Middle class is not a number, it’s a value set.”
Biden asked Democrats what they stood for and if they knew “just how much is at stake.”
“Our power is diminishing because of this naked and phony nationalism and this populism designed to clear space for selfish people to be able to operate. So folks, I think it’s important to send Jon back, I think it’s important we win back the House of Representatives, because standing up for the middle class, dealing them back into the promise, is the challenge of our time.