By Greg Grisolano
ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com
For an Obama-Biden campaign volunteer like Pat Anderson, getting to see and hear from Jill Biden was a big boost to her and her fellow volunteers.
“It was fantastic,” said Anderson, a retired teacher from Joplin. “She talked about how this was one of the most important elections of anybody’s lifetime right now — and it is.”
Biden, the wife of U.S. Sen. Joe Biden, of Delaware, the Democratic vice-presidential nominee, met with canvassers and other party workers for about two hours Saturday afternoon at a Democratic Party office in downtown Joplin.
An English professor at Delaware Technical and Community College, Biden said she would make education an important part of her role as “second lady” if her husband and Barack Obama win the presidential election on Nov. 4.
“I’ve been an educator for 27 years, so I will always advocate for education,” she said, in a brief interview with the Globe after Saturday’s event. “I will be given a platform, and I’m going to take advantage of that. There’s so many people in this country who need help, and I want to help them.”
Biden also said she would use that platform to promote other causes, including breast-cancer awareness, and support for mothers and fathers with children in the military. A Biden son, Beau, was deployed to Iraq along with his National Guard unit earlier this month.
“The one thing I do know is that Barack and Joe will end this war responsibly, and that is so important to me and to many of our military families,” she said. “I support our troops, but I certainly don’t support the war.”
Although the level of media scrutiny and security measures have been increased since her husband accepted the nomination, she said that if the Democratic ticket is elected she hopes she will still be able to continue her first love of teaching.
“I’d like to work part-time and try to do all the things I’ve been doing,” she said, adding that her students have already adjusted to the presence of Secret Service personnel outside her classroom.
“Just last week, one of my students said ‘Hey Dr. B, there’s some guy outside the door with an earpiece in. What’s that all about?’” she said. “My students are honestly non-plussed.”
Before the interview, she spoke to about 60 campaign workers from across the Joplin area.
One of the volunteers, Jared Myers said he is supporting the Obama-Biden ticket because of the economic plan that has proposed.
“I’m really worried about the economy,” said Myers, a student at Crowder College in Neosho. “I really think Obama and Biden are the only ones who can fix that.”
