In Scranton, Joe Biden’s childhood hometown, it’s hard to miss the displays of affection for the President of the United States.
Two streets and a highway into the city bear his name, and personal letters from Biden invoking the “Scranton values” of hard work and common decency that he often espouses are proudly displayed in the living rooms and offices of some supporters.
Two residents told stories about Biden making surprise calls to their mothers during one of their visits.
Business owners credit Biden’s programs for their financial survival during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite those strong ties, interviews with some two dozen Scranton voters show that many harbor deep concerns about the possibility of Biden running again.
President Joe Biden, during his run for the White House in July 2020, poses in front of his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
President Joe Biden’s motorcade passes under a sign advertising the President Biden Expressway in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Then, candidate Joe Biden leaves his childhood home in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which luckily belongs to a Biden-Harris supporter.
Biden, 80, is already the oldest sitting US president and would be 86 by the end of his second term, if re-elected.
“I’m concerned about his age and his health,” said Jenn Saunders, 57, who owns a downtown coffee shop and voted for Biden in 2020.
The interviews provide a window into voter attitudes toward Biden’s re-election bid, which will be formally announced in the coming weeks.
National polls show Democrats want a younger candidate, and the lack of fervor in Scranton may be an early warning sign for the party.
Biden’s approval rating is still pretty low, but it rose to 42% in a Reuters/Ipsos poll this month.
Many Scrantonians say they could endorse Biden again in 2024, albeit without much enthusiasm.
They expressed their frustration with the Rust Belt city’s long economic downturn and the apparent lack of options in 2024.
‘I guess it’s kind of what you’re supposed to do, run again, right? That’s really what it’s supposed to do. Is there a president who has not made a second candidacy? But who else is there? Kimberly Smith, 45, manager of the town’s Glider Diner. We just need someone new.
A mural in Scranton, Pennsylvania, showing Dwight Schrute of The Office. The American version of The Office was set in the city of Pennsylvania.
Memorabilia from the American sitcom, The Office, is seen inside the Pennsylvania Paper Company in Scranton
Joy Zavada, 26, a registered Democrat, works at Abe’s Delicatessen in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Then, candidate Joe Biden leaves Hank’s Hogies with some treats after speaking at the Scranton Cultural Center in Scranton in October 2019.
With lower voting rates than many other democracies, enthusiasm plays a big role in deciding American elections.
An average of 57% of eligible voting-age voters have cast ballots in the last four presidential elections.
Biden aides say they welcome a possible rematch against Donald Trump, arguing it will help energize a base angry with the former president.
However, polls show that the American public does not feel the same way.
“The thought of a Biden-Trump rematch gives me the creeps,” said Donald Banks, 83, a retired teacher and Scranton native.
Saunders said choosing Biden over Trump could end up being “the lesser of two evils once again.”
Scranton, where European immigrants once flocked to the local coal mines, has long been the base of Biden’s origin story, even though he left around the age of 10.
The region was for years dominated by Democrats, but Trump changed that dynamic with his support among white, working-class voters.
Biden won the Democratic stronghold of Lackawanna County, due in large part to Scranton, by nine points in 2020, beating Hillary Clinton in 2016, who carried the county by less than four points.
Biden often peppers speeches with references to lessons learned in his hometown of northeast Pennsylvania, now a presidential swing state.
Biden has visited Scranton twice as president and several times on the campaign trail.
Former Scranton Mayor Jim Connors says Biden embodies the underdog mentality embraced by working-class cities like Scranton.
A photograph of former Scranton mayor Jim Connors, 76, with President Joe Biden hangs in his home in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
A sign supporting President Joe Biden on a patio in Scranton, Pennsylvania, photographed last week.
A street mural reading Electric City, Scranton’s nickname for being the first in the nation to have electric streetcars, is seen through a fence overpass in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
“I am proud to fight for the Scranton values we were raised on,” Biden wrote in a 2021 letter to former Mayor Jim Connors.
The letter hangs in Connors’ living room, along with other photos of Biden and a newspaper clipping showing a 13-year-old Biden in a parade in Scranton for former President Harry Truman.
Connors, 76, says the president embodies the underdog mentality embraced by working-class cities like Scranton.
He says he is proud of Biden for leading the global fight against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he recently visited.
He was there to help. She is from Scranton. That’s what we do. They call this place the friendly city. That’s not just hype,” Connors said. This is how Joe was raised.
He added: If Biden wants to run again, “let somebody step up and defeat him.”
Yet few residents said life has improved under Biden.
Glyn Johns, 29, is a local black activist who hoped that having a Scranton native in the White House would illuminate the issues facing Rust Belt cities.
Paige Cognetti, the current mayor of Scranton, says the city has flourished under Biden, even if that has sometimes gone unnoticed.
A candle supporting President Joe Biden sits in the office of Scranton Mayor Paige Cognetti in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
A street named after President Joe Biden, known as the President Biden Expressway, is seen entering downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania.
About one in five people in Scranton live in poverty, twice the national rate, and the school district is near the bottom of national and state rankings.
Johns says she’s disappointed so far.
I still think there should be more than street names being changed and roads being renamed for you. Because those roads still have potholes. The people who are on Biden Street are still struggling with their businesses,” Johns said.
Black voters have been credited for helping deliver the White House to Biden, but Democrats fear some blacks are becoming disillusioned and bitter about the idea that politics offers solutions to their problems.
Paige Cognetti, the current mayor of Scranton, says the city has flourished under Biden, even if that has sometimes gone under the radar.
He said the city and region benefited from millions of dollars of COVID-19 stimulus, including paying for a new fleet of electric vehicles.
Scranton has taken advantage of federal funds to help raise local wages and support small businesses.
Biden also supports a plan to build a new rail line from Scranton to New York City.
“So when I think about President Biden, I don’t just think about President Biden being our local son,” Cognetti said.
“I think of him ushering in an era of funding for the things that cities like Scranton need.”
