CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Jill Biden is shown Tuesday evening at O.J.’s Diner in Marshalltown during an interview with Times-Republican reporter Mike Donahey. Biden was in town working on behalf of husband and Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden.

Saying Democrats, independents and some Republicans want change in the White House, Jill Biden stopped in Marshalltown Tuesday to get that message out for her husband Joe Biden.

A meeting with the Times-Republican was part of his “No Malarkey” bus tour through 18 rural Iowa counties which began in Council Bluffs earlier this week.

“The Iowans I have met on tour want a different kind of leadership,” Jill said. “They want a leader with character and integrity. They are also concerned about hospitals closing and fewer rural schools.”

Meanwhile, Joe is working to get out a message with his plan to revitalize the rural areas of the United States.

Jill said she has met with farmers on tour who are increasingly concerned about low commodity prices resulting from the President Trump-imposed tariffs.

“Some of the farmers we have met on tour think they have been duped,” Jill said. “They turned to Trump in 2016 thinking things would be better, they are not.”

Jill was passionate when discussing education and veterans affairs.

“Current U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVoss is a disaster,” Jill, a community college educator said. “When Joe is in the White House teachers will know the first lady is a teacher and has their backs. We will focus on teacher pay and strengthening school programs. For example, universal pre-K programming is key to Joe’s campaign.”

The country needs to do more for veterans was strong theme of the former second lady.

“We are a military family,” she said. “My father was a signalman in the Navy during World War II. Our son Beau was in the National Guard and served overseas. During the Obama administration First Lady Michelle Obama and I worked jointly to help veterans, especially those with spouses overseas with the ‘Boots on the Ground’ program.

The bus tour is giving the Bidens a chance to personally connect with small-town Democrats, independents and curious Republicans.

Joe is the first choice of Democrats nationally, but recent polls show he could finish second, third or fourth in Iowa’s first in the nation caucus on Feb. 3.

With a scant 60 days until caucus night, he needs a strong Iowa showing to propel him to contests immediately following in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Joe told reporters earlier this week he is out to win Iowa, and not working to come in second or third place.

And Biden knows Iowa has been tough on him.

In his 1988 presidential campaign, amid a plagiarism controversy that originated at an Iowa debate, he dropped out before the caucuses.

In 2008, he came in fifth. Now, as a former vice president, and six-term senator from Delaware, he enjoys widespread name recognition, respect for his foreign policy experience and the perception, polls show, that he can mount a strong challenge to Trump.

Jill Biden said she has been working to get out the vote for Joe.

“I have been saying to Iowans this is the month to make a decision,” she said. “Joe is a moderate with progressive ideas.”

For more information, visit go.joebiden.com

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Contact Mike Donahey

at 641-753-6611 or

mdonahey@timesrepublican.com