US President Joe Biden speaks at a Labor Day event with United Steelworkers of America Local Union 2227 in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania on September 5, 2022. - Biden is celebrating Labor Day by delivering remarks on the dignity of American workers in P PHILADELPHIA - As Democrats fight to keep control of the Senate, President Joe Biden has been practically absent from midterm election campaigning in pivotal states such as Georgia, Nevada and Ohio.But he keeps coming back to Pennsylvania, where he spent his childhood and his low approval ratings won't keep him away.
He plans to return on Thursday for the 14th time since taking office in January 2021, speaking about infrastructure in Pittsburgh and holding a fundraiser in Philadelphia for Democratic John Fetterman, who's running for an open Senate seat.
And Biden's 15th trip is already scheduled for next week.Pennsylvania is only a short flight from Washington, making it the most convenient swing state for the president to visit.
It's also central to Biden's political identity, even rivaling his home state of Delaware, which he represented as a senator for nearly four decades.With its communities of blue-collar white voters, Pennsylvania is an intimate test of whether Democrats can still win over the kind of people that Biden grew up with in Scranton, but more recently have thrown their support to Republicans and Donald Trump.>> Pennsylvania Politics "It’s personal for Joe Biden," said Darrin Kelly, the president of the Allegheny/Fayette Central Labor Council. "He’s no stranger here, because he pretty much is one of us."Kelly said Biden has followed through on his promises to organized labor, pushing policies that will help working people.