Yesterday, former Vice President and former Senator Joe Biden made his first campaign stop in the long slog towards the 2020 Presidential Race. This first stop was held in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is important because Trump won the state of Pennsylvania in the 2016 Presidential Race. Additionally, it is a working class town and home to the International Association of Firefighters Local #1 and Biden gained the Union’s endorsement. And, speaking of working, “Middle Class Joe” has discovered the “dignity of work”.

The Biden message of the “dignity of work” came through so clearly that even this CNN reporterette mentioned it. It’s in the first couple of minutes so that you don’t have to watch the whole thing.

In covering this first campaign stop, The Economist picked up on the dignity racket:

Nothing in Mr Biden’s cautious speech in Pittsburgh was surprising, including his failure to mention immigration (he knows that more than a few blue-collar voters in the Midwest agree with Mr Trump’s position on that). He has borrowed a slogan—“the dignity of work”—that was previously deployed this year to good effect by another Midwestern presidential-aspirant, Sherrod Brown. In early March Mr Brown, a 66-year-old senator from Ohio, said he would not enter the race. That disappointed many who saw him as an affable younger version of 76-year-old Mr Biden. But it cleared Mr Biden’s path to stand as the representative for America’s ordinary, hard-working folk.

The approach is calculated to undermine a president during a time of prolonged economic growth. By saying “the dignity of work is my measure”, Mr Biden brushes aside statistics about low unemployment and high GDP, pointing instead to how ordinary workers feel. His talk of higher wages and more respect could resonate well with some of the president’s wavering supporters.

A leopard doesn’t change his spots. Remember that “Middle Class” Joe had to drop out of the 1988 Presidential Race because he stole portions of a speech from Margaret Thatcher aide Neil Kinnock. Plagiarism is not a middle class value, Joe.

And, just when did Biden discover the “dignity” involved in work, especially middle class work. Did he learn from his used car dealer father? Well, that does explain some things. Did Biden learn it between 1969 when he became an attorney and 1972 when he was elected to the United States Senate?

Did Joe Biden learn about the dignity involved in work during his tenure as Vice President under Barack Obama? Remember the low labor participation rate under President Obama? The Hill remembers:

Under President Obama, labor participation hit lows last seen in the late 1970s. So rather than a true reflection of labor market strength, the declining unemployment rate was, in great part, a reflection of the declining percentage of people actively looking for work. What we really want to see is a declining unemployment rate with a higher percentage of people working or actively looking for work, indicating a strong and growing economy.

Yes, Joe, we want to go back to the bad old days. Not! If we had an active, non-partisan media, maybe a reporter would ask Joe Biden about when he had this work equals dignity revelation. But, we don’t have any honest media so it won’t happen.

Composite credit: Donkey Hotey/Wikimedia Commons.org/Licensed Under Creative Commons 2.0/cropped