Does Joe Biden really care about Scranton? It’s a question I’ve wondered often lately, as Biden and an endless stream of reporters have descended on my hometown to opine on the Democratic presidential nominee’s ties to northeast Pennsylvania and offer an often-carnivalesque look at what “Rust Belt America” really looks like. Biden has long claimed Scranton as his hometown, even though he moved away from it when he was nine. But who could fault him for leaning into his roots?

As writer and fellow Scranton native Matt Danzico explains, “Scranton sits within a county that could help swing Pennsylvania, which itself is a swing state.” Biden’s playing to…