WAUKESHA - Dr. Jill Biden highlighted the Obama administration’s efforts on education, veterans’ issues and health care during a stop in Waukesha this evening. She told the gathering that life on the campaign trail can be tiring, but being around volunteers makes it easier.
 

“Thank you for this, because now we feel so energized,” she said.

Biden said she has seen energy and enthusiasm everywhere she has gone.

“I know this election is connecting with people in a real way, because this is about people’s lives, right? That’s what this election is about, and really, it’s no different for me. Even if Joe’s name weren’t on the ballot, I would still be working hard for this election,” Biden said.

The wife of Vice President Joe Biden joined supporters for a potluck at the Obama for America offices in downtown Waukesha. She has events scheduled in Kenosha on Sunday and in the Fox Valley region on Monday.

“It’s great to be here in Wisconsin. We just got here like an hour ago and on our way here we picked up some empanadas because I heard it’s a potluck,” Biden said.

After arriving and delivering her dish to the food table, Biden went around to each table to talk with supporters and pose for pictures. She then addressed the gathering for about 10 minutes. Biden told the crowd that many of them mentioned her husband’s performance in the vice presidential debate.

“I have to tell you. I was so proud of him,” she said.

Biden highlighted the Obama administration’s efforts on education, including increasing funding for Pell grants and making the student loan process easier.

“I think those of you who are teachers know that teaching isn’t just what I do, it is who I am, and I’m sure that’s true for all of you,” she said, noting that she teaches English at a community college in Virginia. She said she graded papers on the plane and was emailing students on the way to Waukesha.

Biden also noted that she is a military mom; her son Beau served in Iraq for a year. She said it was a tough year for the Biden family.

“That’s why as a mom, it was important to me, that when we were elected, President Obama said he would end that war in Iraq, and he kept his promise,” Biden said.

She also emphasized how hard her husband and the president had worked for health care reform. Biden highlighted some of the benefits of the law, including the ability for children to stay on their parent’s health insurance.

Biden said the president and vice president understand that it is “important for women to make our own decisions about our own health care.”

“We have to make sure that our daughters and our granddaughters don’t have to fight those same fights that we fought decades ago,” Biden said.

She told supporters it was important for the president’s supporters to take advantage of early voting, which begins on Monday.

“It’s not up to me and Barack and Joe and Michelle. We can do so much. But it’s all of you. You’re the ones, everybody here, you’re the ones who are going to make the difference. You are the ones who are going to take us forward on November 6,” she said. 

-- By Arthur Thomas