and so an alliance was born. not so much a love story but more like a marriage of convenience. the onetime centrist and the longtime progressive. 20 years ago, is the joe biden you would have expected? >> no. i think the biden of today is not what i or others would have expected. >> reporter: until a new reality intruded. >> covid exacerbated all of the existing problems in terms of the struggles of working families. >> reporter: then came january 6th. >> what trump is about is his actual threat to american democracy. what biden sees out there is if we do not move aggressively and make it clear to people the government can work for them, then we stand a real chance of losing democracy in this country. >> reporter: there's a shared history too. both men have working-class roots, and both wanted to be president. ♪ and when vice president biden