Biden visits Pennsylvania childhood home; Trump predicts ‘a great night’

SCRANTON, United States — Joe Biden likes to talk about growing up in the industrial town of Scranton, and as Americans voted Tuesday the Democratic presidential nominee returned to his childhood home, signing his name on the wall for good luck.

“From this House to the White House with the Grace of God,” Biden wrote in black pen on a wall of the living room behind a picture, signing his name and adding the date, “11-3-2020.”

“His pen to God’s ears,” wrote one Twitter user under a photograph of the signed wall snapped by a reporter traveling with Biden as he courts voters in Pennsylvania on Election Day.

The intimate moment in the house was actually a repeat of a time on the campaign trail in 2008 when he signed a bedroom wall here during his second presidential bid, one that ended early but led to Barack Obama choosing him as a vice-presidential running mate.

It has become a tradition of sorts for the 77-year-old, who served for more than three decades as a US senator from neighboring Delaware where the family moved when Biden was 10, to return to his roots.

“We’re going home,” Biden, accompanied by two of his granddaughters, told reporters as he landed in Scranton for one of his final gestures of an 18-month presidential campaign odyssey.

The current home owner, Anne Kearns, didn’t appear to mind.

“I watch you all the time,” she told Biden during a brief exchange before welcoming him into the house. “I’m so proud of you.”

Even as the coronavirus forced an end to campaigning as Americans had come to know it — face-to-face encounters, relentless hand-shaking and selfies on rope lines — Biden got a whiff of that excitement on the street.

More than 100 neighbors, supporters and onlookers, nearly all of them masked, had gathered near the home with a gray awning and black shutters.

“He’s right there! Oh my God!” yelled first-time voter Mardan Daurilas, 19. “That’s my future president.”

Biden huddled with some old neighbors, and made a few other stops in town, including at the home of US Senator Bob Casey’s mother and at a union local office, before heading to Philadelphia for one final get-out-the-vote effort.

The Democrat and US President Donald Trump are bitterly contesting swing state Pennsylvania, which has emerged as perhaps the pivotal battleground of the entire election.

‘Entitled to know’

Meanwhile, Trump on Tuesday again sought to sow doubt over the counting of ballots beyond Election Day, saying the country was “entitled” to know who won on the day of the vote.

“You have to have a date, and the date happens to be November 3,” he said during a visit to Republican National Committee offices in Arlington, Virginia. “And we should be entitled to know who won on November 3.”

Supporters cheered and applauded Trump at his campaign headquarters, where he visited Tuesday to thank dozens of staffers working to get him reelected.

Trump predicted his victory, but acknowledged he could lose.

“I think we’re going to have a great night, but it’s politics and it’s elections and you never know,” Trump said.

He said his campaign was doing well in states like Florida, Arizona and Texas. He noted the importance of winning Pennsylvania.

“Winning is easy. Losing is never easy,” he said. “Not for me it’s not.”

The president was speaking after days of grueling campaigning on the road.

“After doing that many rallies, the voice gets a little choppy,” Trump said with his now-gravely delivery.

Trump said success will bring unity. He listed what he believes are his accomplishments with the coronavirus and the economy.

More than 100 staffers, almost all wearing masks, lined up against the back wall of the operations center to hear from their candidate. Some masks were emblazoned with “Trump” and “MAGA” for Trump’s “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan.