Thread by @DavidYankovich

I’ve been lucky enough to have met or worked with a lot of folks- Besides Sen. Jones (I’m biased)- @JoeBiden has been the most decent man that I have met.

I had the chance to spend part of a campaign day in 2017 with him and it changed how I view a lot of things-

Thread: 1/12

I was able to be with him and listen to him privately speaking to others behind closed doors- I expected him to talk electoral math of the race, how to win certain voters, and all the things we all usually talk about when we are campaigning. He didn’t.

2/12

He talked about decency. He told stories about his dad, his mother, people he met in his travels that shaped him.

He didn’t talk about prime ministers and leaders he knew- he talked about us. How our stories told him the right way. And he listened.

3/12

And it was interesting to me because that is how he seems to campaign.
(Biden staffers feel free to correct me)
He listens to people, hears their stories, talks to his team, builds a coalition. The politics of this comes into play BECAUSE of his decency.
4/12

So, the entire time he is on this very tight schedule. “The VP has to go.” Is a memory for me as his exasperated staff watched him meet every single person he could. The janitor, the foodservice folks, the security, the grandma crying, everyone got a Joe Biden moment.

5/12

He was supposed to speak and leave quickly for a plane- he decided to talk for nearly an hour... and then met every person he could on the way out. And when I said everyone there got a Biden story, I mean every person there got a Biden story.

6/12

And my own favorite personal moment and Biden story was when he was leaving and I asked if he had any advice for me- “Don’t screw up, listen to people’s hearts, and you’ll do okay.” He said this with a big smile and double finger guns.

7/12

How did this change me?

It wasn’t the first time I was with a major national figure behind the scenes. But it was something to see leadership that didn’t turn on and off in front of a camera- just like my guy. He means what he says.

And that taught me how to win.
8/12

In any race I’ve been part of I have remembered how he finds success. And everyone who he is personal friends with- all of them would go through hell willingly for him. Biden doesn’t need to scare or insult folks to lead, everyone would rather die than let him down.
9/12

His character changed the way I see campaigning. Even as my best friends have become more (rightfully) angry at what is happening- I still have his example that true leadership is decent- and I have seen only that get through to the other side.
10/12

So, all of this is a very long way of saying to everyone out there that while we cannot accept abusers and hate- we can still take the example of what won us the national election and apply this to all our philosophies across our broad party and win on more than the issues.
11/12

It takes strength to be Joe Biden. He lost his family. They went after his son. They have attacked his decency, his country, his pain.

He showed the strength, heart and patience to not just win but to reach for unity after all of it.

That is some strength I hope to have.
12/12