海角大神

A full hour before Joe Biden is scheduled to speak at Manchester Community College, the only parking spaces left are way in the back of the lot, behind the welding shop. The neon letters on the school鈥檚 electronic sign trumpet through the darkness and drizzle: WELCOME TO NEW HAMPSHIRE JOE BIDEN.

Inside, the gymnasium is overflowing with checkered plaid shirts and fleece jackets, with teachers and geologists, bikers and firefighters, and people who drove an hour and a half from Republican enclaves where they don鈥檛 dare reveal their Democratic leanings.

As Mr. Biden steps up to the mic, ear-piercing whistles ricochet around the gym. 鈥淵ou know in your gut, this is the most important election you鈥檝e ever voted in,鈥� he tells the crowd.

Three African American teenagers in the back zoom in on him with their smartphones. For these teens, it will be the first election they鈥檝e ever voted in. And they can鈥檛 wait to cast ballots for the former vice president who served alongside Barack Obama.

鈥淏eing a person of color, I鈥檇 definitely like to see someone like Kamala Harris [win]. But there will be a time,鈥� says Layla Mohseni of Boston, who remembers watching President Obama鈥檚 inauguration when she was 7, and still has an Obama-Biden sticker on her smartphone.

Why not Senator Harris听this time?

鈥淚 think [Mr. Biden] is the guy,鈥� she says simply, though adds that it would be 鈥渋deal鈥� if Ms. Harris became his running mate, a suggestion that has been听gaining momentum听among some Democrats as a way to combine experience and freshness, continuity and diversity, electability and possibility.

Since announcing his candidacy late last month, Mr. Biden has skyrocketed in the polls 鈥� to the surprise of Washington pundits, many of whom had predicted his first day on the trail might wind up being his best.

His front-runner status can be attributed in part to the strong听support he鈥檚 getting from African American voters. But it鈥檚 not only that.

While it may have seemed that candidates like Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren were pulling the Democrats inexorably to the left, Mr. Biden鈥檚 calls to unify a deeply divided country appear to be resonating with many voters whose No. 1 priority is ending what they see as a dangerous presidency that is corroding American democracy.

鈥淥ne thing I like about Joe Biden is he has this red-blooded American, 鈥榖adass grandpa鈥� [demeanor] that might appeal to Trump voters who couldn鈥檛 bring themselves to vote for Hillary in 2016,鈥� says Lisa Cot茅, an ACLU volunteer. Even though she personally has reservations about Mr. Biden, she says, 鈥淚t鈥檚 going to come down to people who didn鈥檛 vote or who regret voting for Trump.鈥�

The 2016 election came down to fewer than 80,000 votes in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania, where Donald Trump eked out razor-thin victories听thanks in part to the support of blue-collar Democrats who surprised many by throwing in their lot with the New York billionaire.听

Appeal to blue-collar Midwesterners

Before Mr. Biden entered the race, skeptics wondered if there was any room left in the Democratic Party for someone like him 鈥� someone who鈥檚 been in Washington longer than Mayor Pete Buttigieg has been alive, with a long list of controversial positions in his past, from his opposition to busing in the 鈥�70s to his role chairing the Clarence Thomas hearings in the 鈥�90s. Even though he had been VP under the country鈥檚 first African American president, he was too middle of the road, too willing to work with Republicans, too out of touch with the woke millennial masses and the party鈥檚 progressive transformation. And yes, a bunch of people thought he was too touchy-feely to survive in the era of #MeToo.听听

But Mr. Biden鈥檚 rise in the polls over the past few weeks suggests they were wrong. He was already the most popular Democratic candidate when he entered the race on April 25, but he has since more than tripled his margin of advantage over his closest competitor 鈥� Senator Sanders 鈥� from 4 points to 20 points, according to听Morning Consult.听听

That likely reflects the fact that the party鈥檚 voters as a whole are not nearly as left-wing as its most activist standard-bearers. In a听January poll, Democrats were offered a variety of labels and allowed to choose up to three. The most popular label? 鈥淥bama Democrat,鈥� with 25%. Only 7% chose Socialist or Democratic Socialist.听

Mr. Biden, who grew up in Scranton, Pennsylvania, is banking on the votes not of liberal elites in Washington, but of average people who yearn not only for more comfortable financial circumstances but also a deeper sense of dignity and pride.

In the Manchester gymnasium on Monday night, he听starts to roar as he talks about restoring the working class in America.

鈥淵OU BUILT THIS COUNTRY,鈥� he bellows.听American workers are three times more productive than in Asia, he says. We have more great research universities and labs than any other country, and you own them 鈥撎齳ou pay taxes for them, says the former vice president, who once described the United States to China鈥檚 Xi Jinping in one word: possibilities.

鈥淲hat are we doing? We鈥檙e walking around with our heads down, like 鈥榃oe is me,鈥欌�� he said, sending the crowd into wild cheers. 鈥淭he only thing that can tear America apart is not another country, it鈥檚 America itself. 鈥� So get up, and let鈥檚 take back this country!鈥�

鈥淵ou tell 鈥檈m Joe!鈥� whoops a well-dressed man in the back, accompanied by more whistling. It鈥檚 Dick Swett, a former New Hampshire congressman and ambassador who sees in Mr. Biden a youthful enthusiasm that belies his age.

鈥淚f we鈥檙e going to win this election, we鈥檝e gotta be enthusiastic,鈥� Mr. Swett says afterward. 鈥淲e need wisdom that comes with age, we need energy that comes with attitude, not just youth.

Oldest president ever inaugurated?

Many voters who came out to see Mr. Biden brushed off concerns about the fact that if elected, he听would be the oldest president ever inaugurated, at 78 years old. (Senator Sanders would be 79.)听He also would bring more experience in government than any other president-elect, according to a听CNN analysis.

鈥淚 have a lot of friends in their late 70s and early 80s and they are still vigorous, active, bright,鈥� says Carol Martell, who showed up the next morning for a Biden house party in Nashua, New Hampshire. 鈥淸Mr. Biden] doesn鈥檛 think old.鈥�

Still, a recent听Gallup poll听found that voters were more comfortable voting for a Muslim, a gay or lesbian, an African American, or a woman 鈥� just about anyone except a socialist 鈥� than they were for someone over the age of 70.听

Some voters notice that he sometimes trips over his words or interrupts himself and doesn鈥檛 finish his sentences. Maybe it鈥檚 the result of a campaign aide鈥檚 mandate to stop rambling, they muse. Or maybe it鈥檚 just the miserably cold drizzle.

鈥淗e looks better today,鈥� says Mike Marsh, who also saw him in Manchester last night, close up, from just under the teleprompters. 鈥淭here鈥檚 more color in his face.鈥�

He and his friend Robert Schepis, who saw Mr. Biden Monday morning in Hampton, both agree his performance today was better.

鈥淓verybody knows who Trump is. We gotta know who we are,鈥� booms Mr. Biden, his voice carrying out into the New Hampshire woods, where damp oak leaves still lay compressed from the winter snows and the new buds were barely beginning to unfurl in bright greens and reds. 鈥淲e choose hope over fear. We choose truth over lies. We gotta choose unity over division.鈥�

More than 200 people turned out, despite the wintry weather, with cars lining both sides of the neighborhood鈥檚 streets for nearly half a mile and boots tromping all over the hosts鈥� beautifully landscaped backyard. There were immigrants and Bernie supporters and a woman in a blue headscarf and a man in a blue knitted kippa; longtime New Hampshire residents who had never come to such an event; and a high school student who asked what Mr. Biden would do to keep him and his sister safe from school shootings, then grabbed a hug in front of the whole crowd before he had to dash back to school for English class.

As people started trickling back to their cars, Chris Miller was glowing.

鈥淲e need to bring back humanity. 鈥� We need somebody who brings kindness, not brutality,鈥� says Ms. Miller, who says she cries when she watches the news. 鈥淸Mr. Biden] is definitely the unifier.鈥�

鈥淚 think Trump is in for a very rude awakening.鈥�