Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, made a brief appearance Monday at Rep. Gerry Connolly’s Fairfax campaign headquarters to kick off volunteers’ final get-out-the-vote efforts heading into Tuesday’s election.
Democrats are hoping to crank up the intensity to 2008 levels; the volunteers there engaged in “Fired Up! Ready to go!” and “Yes we can!” chants – hallmarks of President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign.
Biden told the crowd she was “more than happy” to come in to give Connolly’s campaign a boost in the campaign’s final 24 hours, noting that Connolly worked for her husband on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Gerry cares about the things that I care about,” said Biden, who teaches English at Northern Virginia Community College. She cited his support for the Federal Pell Grant program, which provides aid for low-income undergraduate students.
Connolly, once thought to be relatively safe in this year’s elections, now is struggling against Republican Keith Fimian in a contest likely to be decided by which side can turnout their voters.
“I don’t want to waste more of your time,” Biden told the rally, “I know Gerry wants you be out there.”
