CEDAR RAPIDS, Ia. — Former Vice President Joe Biden urged a return to decency and moral leadership as he campaigned before a crowd of more than 1,000 people in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Tuesday.

"Our Republican colleagues seem to have lost their nerve," he said. "They’re spending more time protecting the White House and choosing party over country than any time before."

Biden said political leaders and ordinary citizens have a duty to speak out, particularly when "the forces of hate and terror have descended on the American political scene."

"America is so much better than this," he told those in attendance.

Biden was in Iowa as part of his efforts to support Democrats across the country ahead of the 2018 midterm elections, and he spoke on behalf of 1st District congressional candidate Abby Finkenauer and gubernatorial candidate Fred Hubbell.

Biden, who is perhaps the Democratic Party's best ambassador to blue-collar voters, was a natural surrogate for Finkenauer, who regularly touts her family's union and working-class bona fides.

"I understand Abby because I came from the same kind of home," Biden said. Finkenauer worked on Biden's 2008 presidential campaign, and he endorsed her candidacy ahead of the June primary elections.

"We need more women and men of character like Fred and Abby," Biden said Tuesday. "They’re decent and honorable."

It's Biden's first visit to the first-in-the-nation caucus state this election cycle; he previously said he would avoid Iowa for fear of drawing attention away from the midterms and stoking speculation about a future presidential run.

Biden has said publicly that he is considering a 2020 bid after failed presidential runs in 1988 and 2008, and that he will make a decision "by the end of this year."

The former vice president has developed close ties to Iowans throughout those two runs, and he thanked them Tuesday for their support after the death of his son, Beau, to brain cancer.

“So many of you were so decent to my Beau," he said softly, his voice heavy with emotion. "Literally hundreds and hundreds of Iowans wrote beautiful letters to me about my boy."

Biden closed his speech on a crescendo, saying, "We choose hope over fear. We choose unity over division. We choose allies over enemies. We choose truth over lies. ... This country has to come together. So, folks, it’s time to get up. Remember who we are. This is America.”

Do Iowa Dems want another Biden run?

Biden previously has said the decision to run hinges in part on who else declares a White House bid — Democrats have to nominate someone who can win against President Donald Trump, he said. But he said it also will come down to whether his family is ready for that kind of commitment after his son's death.

For his part, Trump has said it would be "a dream" to run against Biden in 2020.

"Look, Joe Biden ran three times, he never got more than 1 percent," Trump said, though Biden has only run twice, in 1988 and 2008. "And President Obama took him out of the garbage heap, and everybody was shocked that he did. I'd love to have it be Biden."

Max Suttles, a 23-year-old Cedar Rapids resident, said Tuesday he "definitely" would like to see Biden run in 2020.

"I think with the sudden change we’ve all experienced, to go back to a comfort zone is something that ... we want," he said. "I think that’s what he would provide for us."

Pamela Seeman, a retired Marion resident, said she's not sure yet whether she'd like to see Biden run.

"I’m not sure where he can do more good — being president or being support," she said, adding that she believes he's the kind of Democrat who could unify the party, particularly after a destructive Trump presidency.

A handful of people wandered through the crowd wearing "Biden for President" T-shirts.

Biden joins a growing list of Democrats who have traveled to the first-in-the-nation caucus state in recent weeks.

More:October roundup: Here are all the politicians visiting Iowa this month

California Sen. Kamala Harris, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders have all made appearances on behalf of Iowa Democrats.

On the Republican side, President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Press Secretary Sarah Sanders have all stumped on behalf of Republican incumbents, including U.S. Rep. David Young and Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Visit comes as Finkenauer, Hubbell seek to close out tough races

Because Biden had previously said he would avoid Iowa ahead of the midterms for fear of stoking 2020 speculation, the Republican Party of Iowa characterized his visit Tuesday as a "last-minute call-up in a rescue mission for candidates underperforming in the Cedar Rapids media market."

Both Finkenauer and Hubbell are seeking to close out races that have been fiercely competitive this cycle.

Iowa’s 1st District, which covers 20 northeast Iowa counties and includes the cities of Cedar Rapids and Dubuque, is considered a must-win for Democrats hoping to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in November.

Voter registrations favor Democrats — they outnumber Republicans by about 33 percent to 28 percent — but it’s also an area of the state that swung in support of President Donald Trump in 2016 after twice voting for President Barack Obama.

More:The 1st congressional district went from Obama to Trump. Will it turn back or is it Republican for good?

Only two public polls have been conducted in the district, and they showed Finkenauer leading by five and 15 points. Blum has commissioned his own internal polls, which show the race in a statistical dead heat.

Those polls show that "it is clear the first district is not connecting with Abby’s extreme positions," said Alexah Rogge, a spokeswoman for Blum's campaign.

"We are proud that, despite being outspent nearly 6 to 1, Iowa voters are not for sale to the millions of dollars pouring in from Hollywood and San Francisco to run attack ads against Rep. Blum," she said.

Since launching her campaign in April 2017, Finkenauer has tallied nearly $3.9 million in fundraising through the middle of October. She’s consistently outraised Blum and, in the third quarter, she reported doing so 3-to-1.

Since the start of 2017, Blum has recorded about $2.5 million in receipts, which includes a $500,000 personal loan he made to the campaign.

More:A gusher of campaign cash — more than $75 million — flows in Iowa as politicians sprint to finish

Hubbell too has raised substantially more money than his opponent, Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. Fueled in part by his own personal wealth — Hubbell contributed about $6.5 million of his own money to his campaign — he's raised nearly $18 million this cycle compared with Reynolds' $10.8 million.

That race also remains close a week from Election Day. A recent Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll, conducted at the end of September, showed Hubbell leading Reynolds 43 percent to 41 percent.