Delaware history is made: The First State gets its first president in Joe Biden
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has waited his whole life to be called Mr. President.
And now that he finally will be, everyone in Delaware will probably still call him Joe.
Forgive us for any perceived lack of respect. It's going to take some getting used to that one of our own will occupy the nation's highest office.
This is a historic moment for Delaware. Greenville resident Joe Biden is president-elect and will be sworn in as the 46th president of the United States in a little over two months.
That's right, the guy you saw eating breakfast at Kozy Korner diner, waiting in line at Pep Boys, shopping at Janssen's Market or bowing in prayer at St. Joseph on the Brandywine is about to be commander-in-chief.
It's the job the Scranton-born, Claymont-bred boy who was once teased for his stutter has coveted for decades.
The only general election Biden has ever lost was for captain of the Archmere Academy football team. But his aspirations have always gone beyond the Delaware state lines.
Now, the 77-year-old has won what is likely his final election, vanquishing Donald Trump and relegating him to one-term status.
Looking back:Joe Biden could be president. A Delaware guy. Imagine that.
In many ways, the Joe we know in Delaware is still the scrappy, ambitious guy who 50 years ago won his first elected office – a New Castle County council seat in 1970 – and has never stopped striving for higher.
He's the eager, driven man whom longtime Delaware political wags would call Mr. Mouth after the then-brash 29-year-old's stunning upset over longtime Sen. J. Caleb Boggs, whom others called Mr. Nice.
In his 36 years as the U.S. senator from Delaware and eight as vice president, the University of Delaware graduate has crisscrossed the state's three counties and showcased his greatest gift: making connections, one on one.
It's earned him many fans in the state, although not every Delawarean is a Biden devotee, we know. Far from it. Even so, he has pulled in 58 percent or more of the vote in every U.S. Senate race of his since 1978.
'A debt of gratitude'
Being glad-handed by the charismatic Biden, or knowing someone who has, is just as much a given in the First State as tax-free shopping.
From Return Day in Georgetown to St. Anthony's Italian Festival in Wilmington to Hockessin's Fourth of July parade, Biden has honed his political skills by wooing Delawareans.
Delaware was his training ground and he never forgot his roots. Some Biden moments are seared in memories such as in 2013 when he was vice president and quietly slipped into the memorial service at the Cranston Heights Fire Company for former deputy state fire marshal Raymond "Reds" Harrington.
Harrington was one of first responders on the scene when Biden’s first wife Neilia and baby daughter Naomi "Amy" died and his sons Beau and Hunter were injured in a 1972 car accident in Hockessin.
"Reds" helped get Beau and Hunter out of the car. Years later, when Joe and Jill Biden lived in north Wilmington and their home was hit by lightning, Harrington was again on the scene and was among those who helped put out the fire.
Biden didn't tell anyone he was coming to the service and hadn't planned to speak. He came to pay his respects to Harrington because he said he owed him and other first First State responders "a debt of gratitude." That's so Delaware.
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Still, Joe has not always endeared himself to the residents of the state where he's lived since 1953. It's easy to get irked when he has referred to himself as Pennsylvania's " third senator," even though in 2018 at the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce's annual dinner he said, "When I die, Delaware will be written on my heart."
He is one of us
But for many, Biden encounters are now-cherished memories.
You saw it on Facebook in the lead up to the election if you live in Delaware, especially in northern New Castle County, the epicenter of Biden World.
Some Delawareans felt compelled to dig out old letters they had received from Biden's office over the years and post them online. Other shared selfies they had snapped with the ubiquitous politician with a blinding smile.
He is one of us.
When Barack Obama won the presidency in 2008 with Biden as his running mate, not only did Biden's supporters in Delaware celebrate, but many state Republicans tipped their caps as well.
After all, it was a moment of Delaware celebration, just like today.
"You have to be proud regardless of your political leanings," Wilmington Union Park Automotive Group Chairman Frank Ursomarso Sr. said at the time. A Republican, he had worked for both the Ford and Reagan administrations.
Fast-forward a dozen years and we find our nation mired in an even more toxic political landscape, which has even infected our state. It's hard to make a case that The Delaware Way, the state's unwritten play-nice plea for unity and community in politics, is still alive within us all given the nastiness of the U.S. Senate race here this year.
Let's put it this way, no one expects failed Senate candidate Lauren Witzke to cheer on Biden's win like Ursomarso once did.
First State in the spotlight
Delaware has long been the punching bag of the 50 states. But Biden did most of his campaigning for president close to home. He brought the world to himself and to Delaware.
Events were held everywhere from A.I. du Pont High School, Bethel AME Church and The Chase Center on the Riverfront to Delaware Museum of Natural History, William "Hicks" Anderson Community Center and the Hotel du Pont.
And it's hard to shake an overwhelming feeling of pride throughout the state. One of ours will be in the Oval Office.
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His win comes after a smooth, mostly gaffe-free campaign altered by COVID-19, which found him in the lead from almost the very beginning. It was starkly different than his two other ill-fated presidential campaigns, each of which ended with Biden eating humble pie.
It also is different for Delawareans. This time around, we carried the still-fresh memories of Biden mourning his son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, when the promising politician was felled by brain cancer in 2015.
We remember the thousands who lined up, snaking around St. Anthony's to pay respects to the grieving family. We remember a teary Biden hugging Obama after the former president gave a heart-wrenching eulogy. And we remember Biden's tense frown as his late son's coffin was loaded from the hearse in front of the church.
In a state this small, Biden, sometimes known as "Uncle Joe," is almost an unofficial member of every Delaware family, whether you want him or not. His loss almost felt like our loss.
With that backdrop, no matter what your political party affiliation might be, it was painful for some to watch as his family was attacked in such personal ways as part of the recent campaign. With the conservative media's relentless focus on Biden's surviving son Hunter in the closing weeks, it was hard not to wince at some of it, including texts between Biden and a clearly ailing Hunter, who has been open about his battles with drug addiction.
The raw wounds might be slow to heal in this hyperpartisan time. And for soon-to-be President Biden, the pressures will only grow more intense.
But before we look ahead, let us bask in the moment.
For the first time in more than 230 years, a Delawarean is president.
Joe Biden, the man who for almost four decades represented the second tiniest state in the union, is now in charge of the free world.
Small wonder, indeed.
Got a tip? Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier). Contact Patricia Talorico at ptalorico@delawareonline.com and on Twitter @pattytalorico.