Biden to rally for congressional candidate targeted by racially charged ads
Former Vice President Joe Biden is in Kingston, New York, Friday to rally for Democratic congressional candidate Antonio Delgado, who is challenging freshman Republican Rep. John Faso in one of the most hotly contested races in the country. The CBS News Battleground Tracker rates the race as a "toss up." The race has divided the district's largely white district, as Delgado has been targeted in racially charged ads for his brief career as a rapper.
At his event for Delgado, Biden -- often considered an avatar of the Democratic white working class -- will likely make the case that Delgado is not a suspicious outsider, but a candidate with working class roots similar to his own.
In his statement announcing his visit to the 19th Congressional District, Biden emphasized that "Antonio and I were both raised in working class families, not too far apart, and I know that he has what it takes to make a real difference for people in upstate New York." Delgado cemented the comparison between the two in his statement on the trip, saying "Vice President Biden grew up just south of here, in Scranton, and understands the struggles and concerns of the working folks in our region."
Biden is currently seen as one of the few Democrats who still appeals to white working class voters, a demographic which conventional wisdom says has pivoted away from the Democratic Party and towards President Trump. The former vice president and potential future presidential contender has been ramping up his campaign presence before the midterm elections, visiting states with closely watched races.
While many of the voters here are technically middle class, this upstate New York district is conservative, but not particularly Republican. It voted for Obama twice and then swung to Mr. Trump in 2016.
Delgado is a Rhodes scholar and a graduate of Harvard Law School who worked at a prominent lobbying firm based in Washington, D.C. However, the line on his resume which has garnered the most attention is his brief career as a rapper under the stage name "AD the Voice" in 2007. Delgado released an album which featured lyrics that criticized the United States for its history of racism.
When details of Delgado's rap career were revealed in July, Faso said that the views he presented in his music were "inconsistent with the views of the people of the 19th District and America." A prominent political scientist at SUNY New Paaltz, Gerald Benjamin, told the New York Times in July that "this is about culture and commonality with the district and its values."
"Is a guy who makes a rap album the kind of guy who lives here in rural New York and reflects our lifestyle and values?" Benjamin said. He added that "people like us, people in rural New York," did not agree with these values. Benjamin later walked back those statements.
The attacks against Delgado continued with ads from the National Republican Congressional Committee on Faso's behalf, which had racial undertones. An ad released in early September spliced clips from Delgado's campaign videos with one of his old music videos. It ended with split screen with "campaign" Delgado compared to "rapper" Delgado. The ad prominently features an image of Delgado as a rapper, showing him in a hoodie, with part of his face in the shadows.
Even though the NRCC was accused of racism on social media over the ad, it continued with this line of attack in an ad released in early October, which characterized him as a "big-city rapper."
To those swayed by the NRCC ads, Delgado may seem like a figure who cannot relate to the concerns of white rural voters, particularly those without college degrees. The race for New York's 19th Congressional District is extremely close, with a Siena College poll from earlier this month showing Faso up by one point. Faso has the support of 53 percent of voters without a bachelor's degree, while Delgado has the support of 54 percent of voters with a college degree. The district is around 84 percent white. According to the 2017 American Community Survey, among those 25 years and older in the district, 70 percent do not have a bachelor's degree.
An endorsement and campaign event with Biden might help Delgado appeal to white voters who may see him more as a big-city rapper than viable congressional candidate.