[JOE BIDEN]
What I like best about this country are the people.
There isn't anything we can't do.
There still is that feeling in America. That's the part I love about it.
My mother thought the most important virtue was courage. She thought everything else flowed
from that. And she said, "Bravery resides in every heart. And someday it's likely to
be summoned."
[ANNOUNCER]
Over the last four years, Americans have summoned the bravery that lives in our hearts. One
by one, family by family, community by community, fighting through the worst economic crisis
since the Great Depression, proving once again that there is just no quit in America.
Joe Biden understands this. It's what you learn growing up in Scranton, Pennsylvania,
and Claymont, Delaware.
[JOE BIDEN]
It was a neat place to grow up. I mean, we thought it was, and still do, completely normal.
Four kids, three bedrooms. Mom and dad, and of the probably 16 years I lived in that house,
there was a relative at least 14 of those years, living with us full-time.
My parents never doubted for a second that I could be president or vice president. There
was this notion that nobody is better than you. You're no better than anyone else, but
nobody's better than you. And in this country you can be anything you want to be.
[JILL BIDEN]
And I think that sense of optimism is what he feels for America.
[ANNOUNCER]
His parents taught him the fundamental truths that make this country special, basic beliefs
that have defined what it means to be middle class for generations.
[JOE BIDEN]
Middle class wasn't a number. It wasn't your net worth, it was more a value set. The idea
that everyone in this country who works at it can do well, can own a home not rent it,
be able to live in a safe neighborhood, send their kid to school, help take care of their
parents, maybe save enough so they can take care of themselves and not rely on their children.
That's what this is all about.
[ANNOUNCER]
But for too many middle class families, this dream is falling out of reach. The pain of
the great recession has cut deep.
[JOE BIDEN]
The longest walk a parent can make is up a short flight of stairs, up to their child's
bedroom to sit on the edge of the bed and say, honey, I'm sorry but you can't play in
the Little League team this summer, or you can't sing in St. Anne's choir or you can't
go to Roosevelt High School. I lost my job. We've got to move.
My dad made that walk. Think how many people have made some version of that walk. All across
America. And they're not looking for a handout. They're just looking for a shot. Just a shot
to get back into the game. And I think we owe them that shot.
Giving the middle class a shot has been the cause of this White House. From the moment
they took the Oath of Office, the challenges have been enormous. For this president and
vice president, it has been a partnership forged in fire.
[JOE BIDEN]
It's turned out to be a singular opportunity to be able to work with a guy like Barack
Obama, because we trust each other, it's a completely candid relationship. I asked him
why he wanted me and he said to help him govern, and so it's been very rewarding. But it's
been most rewarding watching him. This guy has an incredible amount of character. He
has a backbone like a ramrod, he makes his judgments based upon what he thinks is good
for the country, the last questions he asks are the political consequences of it.
[BARACK OBAMA]
Joe has been a great partner and a great vice president. He cares about the middle class,
he knows what it's like to struggle, and he's carried that passion to the White House.
[ANNOUNCER]
Every step of the way, they have met the challenge. Preventing an economic collapse, rescuing
the auto industry, passing historic health care reform, eliminating Bin Laden, ending
the war in Iraq, and through it all they have put the interests of the nation first.
[JOE BIDEN]
Really and truly, Barack and I are about growing this economy from the middle out, because
when you do it that way everybody does well. Poor folks have a ladder up, there's a way
into the middle class, those that are striving to get to the middle class. And the wealthy
do very well, because the middle class has money in their pockets. They can go out and
purchase things that make the economy grow. It not only is sort of the American way, it's
also economically the best way to grow a country. Give them a tax system that's basically fair,
give their kids an opportunity for an education, provide an environment where they can flourish.
[ANNOUNCER]
Maybe it's because he's never forgotten where he came from that he's never lost sight of
where we need to go.
[JILL BIDEN]
He has such a sense of justice and fairness to him, and I think that makes him fight even
harder for people.
[ANNOUNCER]
Maybe it's because he's known loss and pain in his own life that he's never been blind
to the suffering of others.
[JILL BIDEN]
I think that's one of the things that Joe has that a lot of people don't have. The sense
of intuition. He intuitively feels someone's pain. He knows what it feels like to lose
a wife, and then the unspeakable: to lose a child. And I think that's why people connect
with him.
[SUPPORTERS]
He's always shown that he's been a man that supports the working class.
He really cares for you.
He's absolutely here for us. He's listening.
[JOE BIDEN]
Hey Roger, this is Joe Biden.
[SUPPORTER]
Biden, Biden, Biden
[ANNOUNCER]
Maybe it's because he's never doubted the American people, that he's never doubted America's
future.
[JOE BIDEN]
It's never been a safe bet to bet against America. I know I get criticized for saying
that to foreign leaders, but I will not stop saying it. It's never been a good bet to bet
against America.
[BARACK OBAMA]
We're in a fight for the middle class, and there's no one else I'd rather have in that
fight with me than Joe Biden.
[ANNOUNCER]
He's the husband of a teacher who knows teachers should be lifted up, not torn down. He's the
son of an auto man who never doubted the American auto industry would once again rule. He's
the author of the Violence Against Women Act, who's had the courage to stand against the
abuse of power his whole career. He's the father of an Iraq war veteran who believes
our one sacred obligation is to take care of those who have served this nation.
[JOE BIDEN]
I can say with absolute certainty I am more optimistic about America's chances today than
I have been my entire life.
[ANNOUNCER]
Grit. Determination. Resilience. Optimism. That's been the story of America, the story
of ordinary people with extraordinary courage, overcoming extraordinary obstacles and always,
always moving towards a better they.
Joe Biden knows that story. He's lived it. Our Vice President Joe Biden.