Jill Biden tries to close the deal for her husband, one tiny Iowa town at a time

AUDUBON, Iowa — For weeks, Jill Biden has been navigating the back roads of Iowa, traversing through multiple snow and ice storms to reach tiny towns far off the beaten path of presidential politics. She is there to pitch undecided Democrats on the candidacy of her husband, Joe.

It is a role the spouses of politicians often play, stepping into the campaign spotlight to show a different, more human side of the candidate to voters. But what more do you say if your husband is Joe Biden, whose brand is deeply rooted in the fact that he is so glaringly human — from his very public grief over the family tragedies that have defined his life to his propensity to be, as he once put it, “a gaffe machine.”

To that end, Jill Biden has stepped into a slightly different role than the one usually played by a political spouse ahead of Iowa’s first-in-the-nation Feb. 3 caucuses. In many ways, she has become the campaign’s closer, in some cases literally — often speaking after her husband has concluded his remarks at his events around the state.

Smiling and upbeat, and sounding a lot like the college writing professor that she is, Jill Biden asks voters to imagine the drama-free world that could exist if her spouse wins the presidency, where they could turn on the television without coverage of a “late-night tweetstorm” or feel as if the nation is “on the brink of some ill-advised war.”






https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2020/01/16/jill-biden-tries-close-deal-her-husband-one-tiny-iowa-town-time/