TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- President Joe Biden stayed mum on policy during a Saturday trip to Michigan, focusing instead on cherries and voters who were mask-free as coronavirus restrictions have eased. It had all the hallmarks of a campaign stop that he couldn't make last year.
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer greeted Biden when he arrived midday in Traverse City, which is hosting the National Cherry Festival, an event that attracted Presidents Herbert Hoover and Gerald Ford in the past.
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They skipped the festival, however, in favor of a cherry farm in nearby Antrim County, where Biden pitched his immigration plans while chatting with two couples from Guatemala who were picking fruit. Biden's host at King Orchards, Juliette King McAvoy, introduced him to the couples, who she said had been working on the farm for 35 years.
He told them he was proposing a pathway to citizenship for farmworkers. Biden then picked a cherry out of one of their baskets and ate it.
His trip was billed as part of a broader campaign by the administration to drum up public support for his bipartisan infrastructure package and other polices geared toward families and education. But the president was out for direct contact with voters and refrained from delivering remarks about his policy proposals.
Whitmer told reporters she spoke to Biden about infrastructure, although not about any projects for Michigan specifically. In recent flooding, she said the state saw "under-invested infrastructure collide with climate change" and the freeways were under water.
"So this is an important moment. And that's why this infrastructure package is so important." she said.
First lady Jill Biden also was on the road Saturday, traveling to Maine and New Hampshire, while Vice President Kamala Harris was visiting a union training center in Las Vegas.
TEACHER TALK
Friday, Biden spoke to the nation's largest teachers union at the National Education Association's annual meeting in Washington.
He told them that after enduring the challenges of teaching during the pandemic, America's educators have made it apparent that they deserve higher pay.
"You deserve a raise, not just praise," he said. "Every parent in this country who spent the last year educating their children at home understands that you deserve a raise."
Biden made the case while selling his proposed legislative priorities and budget for next year, which includes $20 billion in new funding that aims to spur states to increase teacher pay. The president went on to describe educators as "the single most important component of America's future."
He's the first president in recent history to address the labor group, whose 3 million members include his wife, a longtime community college professor.
Jill Biden called teachers heroes who adapted overnight to support students and families.
"You spoke out for safely reopening schools and more student support," she said. "You carried families through the darkest year in modern history with patience, compassion and care. And you did it all while you worried about your own families' health and education and safety."
The president used the speech to make the case for the bipartisan infrastructure deal, including its plan to improve broadband access. He said the problem was laid bare last year as many children struggled to access remote classes offered by their schools.
He promoted his American Families Plan, which would offer two years of free community college to all Americans, along with two years of preschool for all 3- and 4-year-old children. And he pitched further investments for teachers, including a proposal to double the amount of a federal grant for aspiring teachers and to boost career training for current teachers.
Both of the nation's major teachers unions endorsed Biden as a presidential candidate and he has kept close ties with them since his election.
Some Republicans have accused Biden of being too close to the powerful unions, saying he should have taken stronger action to press teachers to return to in-person instruction. And some said his goal to have most elementary and middle schools reopened within 100 days -- a goal he achieved in May -- was not ambitious enough.
The president has said the key to getting his $973 billion deal passed in Congress involves taking the case straight to voters. While Republicans and Democrats might squabble in Washington, Biden's theory is that lawmakers of both parties want to deliver for their constituents.
White House officials negotiated a compromise with a bipartisan group of senators led by Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Kyrsten Sinema. D-Ariz.
The agreement, announced in June, features $109 billion on roads and highways, $15 billion on electric vehicle infrastructure and transit systems and $65 billion toward broadband, among other expenditures on airports, drinking water systems and resiliency efforts to tackle climate change.
Information for this article was contributed by Collin Binkley of The Associated Press.
