Jill Biden Energizes Volunteer Canvassers at MEA Headquarters
Volunteer canvassers who assembled outside MEA headquarters in East Lansing for shifts of door knocking on Thursday got a motivational boost from a special source: NEA member Dr. Jill Biden stopped by to cheer on efforts to get out the vote for her husband, former Vice President Joe Biden.
MEA President Paula Herbart warmed up the volunteers awaiting Biden’s appearance in cold, drizzly weather with a vision of victory: “Imagine an educator in the White House and a president who supports public education, a president who will nominate an educator for the Secretary of Education.
“We must get rid of Betsy DeVos, and one way we can be sure to get rid of her is to fire her boss! Michigan kids and Michigan educators deserve better.”
In addition to Herbart, Biden was joined for the event by U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, who is seeking a second six-year term, and U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin, running for re-election to the 8th Congressional District, which stretches from the Lansing area to the east into Northern Oakland County. U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow also took to the podium.
Biden was introduced to the crowd by MEA member Tonya Jamison, an Institutional Review Board case manager at Michigan State University and board member of the MSU APA, who credited MEA with helping her provide a good life and college education for her two daughters.
Everything she cares about is on the ballot in this “most important election of our lifetime,” Jamison said.
“I need our next president to recognize the role that unions play in supporting families and forging pathways of opportunity for so many people like myself,” Jamison said. “I need our next president to protect unions and union members. I need our next president to protect health care, especially in a health crisis. I need our next president to support equal access to education.
“Without a doubt, Joe Biden is that leader,” Jamison concluded before introducing Jill Biden as a longtime educator who has “committed her life to teaching the next generation of workers and thinkers.”
In her speech to a crowd of physically distanced volunteers assembled in the MEA back parking lot – with more looking on from inside their parked cars – Biden questioned the common wisdom that says Americans are hopelessly divided along partisan lines.
“Democrats and Republicans, urban and suburban, factory workers, nurses, military parents and educators from every corner across this country want the same things—to work hard and make a good life for their family—but they can’t do that right now,” she said.
“They can’t do that because they’re losing their jobs and their loved ones. Because they’re staying at home or working on the front lines without protection. They’re worried about paying their bills or whether it’s safe for their kids to go to school. We aren’t divided—we are just trying to survive the chaos of Donald Trump’s America.”
For inspiration, she asked listeners to imagine waking up in “Joe Biden’s America” and instead of seeing morning news of a late-night tweetstorm, the headlines discuss “all of the children benefiting from universal pre-K and the students going to college tuition free.”
“You turn on the television and the anchors aren’t talking about the spike in COVID cases. Instead they’re talking about the millions of good-paying union jobs that we’ve created, and they’re reporting on how we’re making prescription drugs affordable. And when those anchors cut to the president of the United States, you don’t turn the channel.”
With Michigan occupying critical battleground status in the presidential race, Biden pointed to Trump’s ongoing conflict with Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. In Trump’s story of America, she said, “Truth doesn’t matter. Decency doesn’t matter. He wants us to believe that our voices don’t matter. Just look at how he has treated your governor. It’s unbelievable.”
We can return decency and honesty to the White House by electing Joe Biden, she said, a commander in chief who will restore trust in government and bring out the best in Americans. But with five days remaining in the campaign, she added, “This is it—there are no do-overs.”
“Our voices are more powerful than we know. We can’t sit back and watch what happens. We have to decide what happens, and that’s what you all are doing today. Make no mistake: Elections are won in moments like these… They’re won by people like you, making the time and showing up.
“Joe and Kamala are the face of this movement, but this is your campaign. You are its strength, and you make it run, and I want to say thank you.”
Sen. Peters also revved up the crowd with a reminder that the DeVos family started a Super PAC to support his opponent, and out-of-state billionaires are funding false attack ads against him, because Michigan is ground zero for Democratic control of the Senate.
“We have a real shot to take the majority in the Senate, but we have to hold Michigan,” he said, adding that President Joe Biden will need help from both houses of Congress to rebuild health care, public education, and the economy.
The son of a 30-year teacher and MEA member, Peters said public education is on the ballot in this election. “We cannot forget that public education really is the heart and soul of our country,” Peters said before pausing to thank educators for their heroic work throughout the pandemic. “It’s part of what makes our country great.
“We have to maintain a strong and vibrant public education system so no matter who you are, no matter where you live, you know you have a quality school right there in your neighborhood with people who are passionate about what they do.”
