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WILMINGTON, Del. – Teleprometers were installed, patriotic decorations assembled, and spectators had been waiting for hours. Still, as the light faded behind an oversized American flag and the evening turned chilly, there was no sign of Joseph R. Biden Jr. on the elaborate stage from which his fans hoped he would declare victory.
And so last Friday concluded as the previous three days: after hours of anticipation among Mr. Biden’s supporters, a wave of preparations by his team, and growing Democratic hopes for “Biden to beat Trump,” all the world near the Westin Hotel in Wilmington, Del., would await the outcome of the presidential campaign again.
“Democracy can be messy at times,” Biden said last week. “It also sometimes takes a little patience.”
Or, maybe, a lot of patience. Granted, some of Mr. Biden’s early supporters had been waiting at least since his first presidential candidacy, in the 1988 campaign, to see him win the White House, so perhaps they were used to it. But not everyone had been there for so long, and the growing uncertainty of what turned into election week was an especially intense and vivid experience for Democratic staff, friends and members of the Biden’s family, as well as reporters who spent much of the past week in Wilmington, near Mr. Biden’s home.
For the second time in three months, international attention has turned to this town of about 70,000 along the Delaware River, where the Amtrak station is named after the president-elect and apparently everyone has a dating history. with a member of the Biden clan or another. .
Wilmington first prepared for prime time during the presidential campaign in August. The city hosted the culmination of the largely virtual Democratic National Convention, with in-person fireworks and a drive-through rally here after Mr. Biden accepted the nomination, but the event ended as announced subsequently.
The spotlight last week widened as an extravagant election night turned into a four-day wait before a winner was called.
On the night of the initial election last Tuesday, fans and longtime neighbors of Biden showed up at a drive-through rally in hopes of seeing him and Sen. Kamala Harris declare a landslide victory. They left anxious and pissed off as President Trump prevailed in Florida instead, with the final presidential race. Biden staff members who were clearly expecting a farewell speech that night were laconic with reporters chasing them in the hours that followed.
As the vote count dragged on across the nation’s major battlefields, the days in Wilmington settled into a rhythm, much like a day spent waiting at an airport for a long delayed flight.
In the morning, Biden’s team would project the confidence and occasionally preview Mr. Biden’s remarks, of sorts. Throughout the day, reporters wearing masks scrambled past sources walking through the Westin’s lobby, momentary spurts of physical activity in an environment in which to leave the perimeter of security even for a sandwich or a mandatory coronavirus was risky, in case any news about a condition entered.
Yet, if members of the news media or campaign staff felt nostalgic for pre-pandemic political reporting rituals, which often involved waiting to corner someone in person instead of a conference call run by the campaign, the election bonus days offered a glimpse of this era.
At night, everyone waited.
The focal point of the festivities was the Chase Center on the Riverfront, an event center near the Christina River – or, more specifically, the outdoor parking lot, which has been transformed into the home of an evening drive-through rally. of the election, then a second rally on Saturday night after the race was called by media outlets. Inside the center itself, Mr Biden made the occasional remarks, urging patience and projecting calm even as his helpers and donors grew increasingly impatient.
The Westin lobby next to the Chase Center became the jumping off point for spotting Biden’s aides and allies – an activity unknown, given the virtual nature of the campaign for many months. In Democratic politics, it quickly became the most famous hotel lobby east of the Des Moines Marriott, traditionally an epicenter of political activity before the Iowa caucuses.
Steve Ricchetti, a longtime advisor, intervened on Friday night. Anita Dunn, a senior adviser, and Bob Bauer, the former White House lawyer, intervened. Delaware Democrat Senator Chris Coons and a close ally of Biden, regularly held impromptu press conferences. Members of Mr Biden’s team, who typically argued with reporters over the phone or on TV, were overwhelmed with their latest in-person information.
The entire area was turned into a fortified complex for election night and the days after, with massive fences preventing the public from entering. Outside the security fence, Biden supporters sat in lawn chairs and at least one father and son slept in a car, hoping to get close enough to spot a possible president-elect . Onlookers traded Biden signs and shared donuts, and lucked out with unusually warm fall weather as the wait dragged on.
There was at least one victim of election night that turned into election week: a huge American flag hanging from two cranes. After being torn and repaired once, it tore again, and eventually a replacement flag was hoisted in its place.
On Saturday morning, 48 to the day, Mr Biden was first elected to the Senate, his sister, Valerie Biden Owens, walked through the Westin Hall.
“It’s wonderful,” she told a small group of reporters as she walked through the door. “It’s a wonderful thing for us, but it’s a better thing for America.”
Minutes later, CNN called the race for his brother.
In the streets outside the security fence, drivers leaned on their horns to celebrate, passers-by responded with cheers, and the smell of cigar smoke wafted.
And inside the parking lot of the Chase Center, attendees who had waited days to celebrate Mr. Biden at a drive-through rally were ready to display their glee. They waved glow sticks, put Biden signs on their cars, and in at least one case left a bottle of champagne perched on top of a vehicle.
Mr. Biden opened his own remarks – the most important speech of his life – by giving the world an introduction to Delaware politics.
“Delawareans!” he said. “I see my buddy, Senator Tom Carper, over there, and I think Senator Coons is there, and I think the Governor is there.
“Is that Ruth Ann?” he called for cheers, referring to former Governor Ruth Ann Minner.
At the end of his speech, the sky lit up with another name.
“Biden,” reads the lights in the sky, thanks to a drone light show. “President-elect.”
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