by Alex Lloyd Gross
Vice President Joe Biden was in Bristol Township today, October 24, 2020. He held an outdoor Drive-In rally in the back parking lot of the Bucks County Community College. It was hidden from public view. It was by invitation only and if you did not have an invitation , there was almost no way to sneak in. Cars snaked from the parking lot onto busy Veterans Highway , from about 8:00 AM, waiting for the United States Secret Service to inspect those vehicles for hidden weapons and explosives. Once cleared, the cars were directed by volunteers to park in every other spot.
Most of the attendees had no view of Biden in person. They had to watch him on one of any number of screens that were set up. There were five portable toilets available for public use towards the back of the event. By about 10:15 AM, as cars were still coming in, those already there were welcomed by John Cordisco, Chairman of the Bucks County Democratic Party. Local State House Rep Tina Davis gave brief remarks, telling the crowd that Joe Biden called her ailing relative overseas. She is also running for reelection.
Patrick Murphy, and Christina Finello gave remarks. In fact Finello went visiting attendees by their cars. She was taking socially distant selfies. and talking up her campaign for congress in the first Congressional District.
Before long, Joe Biden, accompanied by his wife Jill made their way to the stage. Jill spoke, then introduced Tara Huber, Neshaminy Federation of Teachers President.. While she is important , the crowd was there to see and hear Joe.Biden. He took the podium at 11:38 AM, and removed his face mask. ” I wish I could go car to car to meet you all. I don’t like the idea of all this distance, but it is necessary,” he said.
Biden spoke to the crowd of people that pretty much stayed by their vehicles. Car horns honked when important points were touched upon. “I am not going to raise your taxes, nobody here will have their taxes raised, I am raising taxes on those that make over $400 thousand per year,” Biden said. He pretty much kept to his points, reading from a teleprompter that was in front of the stage. “I am not going to shut the country down, I am going to shut the ( Corona) virus down, I mean, I believe we can walk and chew gum at the same time,” he said.
He also reiterated his promise to enhance the Affordable Care Act. Biden was speaking to a friendly crowd. 130 cars were present. Each vehicle could have four people in them. Secret Service Agents watched the cars and the crowd, to insure no one did anything stupid. The entire rally was pretty much kept of the view from the general public. In fact, most media outlets were not credentialed for this event. The stage was behind the building. That did not stop several hundred Biden supporters from coming out, hoping to catch a glimpse of their candidate. They were kept in the parking lot.
Also in the parking lot were several hundred Trump supporters. At times, a low din of noise from the protesters could be heard by Biden. “When I’m President, I will represent those people, too. I’ll represent the red states. That what a president does” ,Biden said.