Democrats are utilizing longtime public educator Jill Biden to help sell the American people on the landmark $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed into law by her husband.
"A rubber-floored playground outside an elementary school in a small city in central New Jersey may not seem like the most traditional of political settings. But on a windy, cold afternoon on Monday, it was the spot where the Biden administration chose to begin its salesmanship of the most ambitious piece of legislation in at least a decade," Politico reported Monday evening. "There, outside Samuel Smith Elementary School, first lady Jill Biden told a small crowd of school board members, elementary school teachers and members of the New Jersey congressional delegation that help was on the way. And if they had trouble hearing it over the wind, a sign in all caps was there, on the lectern, to remind them: 'Help is Here Tour.'"
"The first lady was one of three administration principals to hit the road to sell the $1.9 trillion Covid-relief bill that the president signed into law on March 11. Samuel Smith Elementary was the first of all their stops," Politico explained. "That the Biden administration would choose a school as a setting and the first lady as its primary surrogate for the opening pitch of their ambitious sales effort was no coincidence. Biden has been a teacher for three decades and continues to teach while serving as first lady, which makes her uniquely suited for touting the more than $128 billion being sent to local and state agencies for schools. And the administration knows it."
The first lady is key to Democrats demonstrating that they are safely re-opening America's schools.
"Even with your best efforts, students can't come in every day. And this school, like schools across the country, can't fully reopen without help. So today, I'm here to tell you: With the American Rescue Plan, help is here. We're going to open schools — and we're going to do it safely," she said.
While Dr. Biden was in New Jersey, Vice President Kamala Harris and her husband Doug Emhoff were selling the bill in Nevada.
The bill is already supported by more than half of GOP voters, but Democrats are keen to actively sell the legislation to avoid mistakes made by the Obama administration during the last economic crisis that started under a Republican president.
With the American Rescue Plan, #HelpIsHere. We’re going to open schools—and we’re going to do it safely. https://t.co/GuN0RlY4e5— Jill Biden (@Jill Biden) 1615844069.0
