Biden invokes FDR in push to turn Georgia blue

Oct. 27 (UPI) -- One week before voters decide the outcome of the 2020 election, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made a last effort to push Georgia into the blue column.

He spoke Tuesday afternoon in Warm Springs before planning to head to Atlanta for an evening drive-in event.

Biden again pushed his message that the 2020 presidential election is a "battle for the soul of the nation," criticizing President Donald Trump for causing partisan divide.

"Too many among us spend more time shouting than listening, more time fighting than working together, more time demonizing and denigrating others, rather than lifting them up," the former vice president said.

"Has the heart of this nation turned to stone? I don't think so. I don't believe it."

He invoked the legacy of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose so-called Little White House is located in Warm Springs, to encourage Georgians to vote for a Democrat for the first time since 1996.

Roosevelt built a personal retreat in the town after spending time there for polio treatment in its warm, natural springs. The warm waters were thought to be therapeutic for those with paralysis or other ailments and the town is now home to the Roosevelt Warm Springs Institute for Rehabilitation.

Biden compared Warm Springs' healing history to his own plan to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm running as a proud Democrat, but I'll govern as an American," Biden said during his visit. "This place, Warm Springs, is a reminder that, though broken, each of us can be healed, that as a people and a country we can overcome this devastating virus."

Considered a battleground state, RealClear Politics' average of polls has shown Biden and Trump swapping the lead in the state for several weeks. As of Tuesday, Trump had a narrow lead of 47.2% to Biden's 46.8%, well within the lowest margin of error in the average of polls.