Joe Biden hasn't decided about 2020, but his remarks in Nashville felt like a campaign speech

Former Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday he hadn't decided if he would run for president in 2020, but his remarks at Vanderbilt University felt like a campaign speech.

During a 75-minute conversation with Vanderbilt Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos, Biden projected an optimistic view of a polarized nation. He praised the compassion of Ohio auto workers, the grit of Mexican immigrants and the ingenuity of research scientists.

"It’s time for us to get up, raise our heads up and realize who the hell we are. Shake off this idea that our best days are behind us," he said to applause from an audience of 1,200 students and community members. "My God, we’re the greatest country of them all now, and the future is absolutely unlimited.

"What are we whining about?"

Biden demurred when Zeppos asked about his plans for 2020, saying he would make a decision about a potential presidential campaign in January.

“I’m going to do everything in the meantime to make sure we elect a Democratic Congress," he said.

Biden worked toward that goal during his visit to Nashville. On Tuesday afternoon, he headlined a fundraiser for Democrat Phil Bredesen, the former Tennessee governor who is making a competitive run for Senate this year.

► More: Joe Biden to headline Phil Bredesen US Senate campaign fundraiser in Nashville

Bredesen's candidacy presents an opportunity for Democrats to snag a seat in a deeply conservative state. He is leading U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, his likely Republican candidate, in early polls of the race.

The Tennessee Republican Party issued a statement criticizing the fundraiser as an example of the "Biden-Bredesen bromance" that tied Bredesen with liberal views that are unpopular in Tennessee.

But Biden didn't mention specific races or candidates at Vanderbilt. He focused instead on problems with the system of government. He criticized lawmakers for failing to look across the aisle to address real people's problems.

A failure to do so in 2016 cost Hillary Clinton the presidency, he said. And he suggested the same problem was blocking progress in the Republican Congress.

“We’re not talking to the people and what happened is, they got angry,” he said. "We’ve got to start talking to them, and talk to their fears. Because there are answers.”

Biden returned repeatedly to the theme of empathy.

Sitting in a leather chair, he answered Zeppos' questions with long, sometimes meandering stories. At multiple points, he talked about forging unlikely friendships and alliances with his Republican colleagues in the Senate.

That wouldn't be possible today, he said.

“There’s not a single place in the U.S. Capitol where Democrats and Republicans can get together and get to know one another and talk,” he said. “We can’t go on like this. This can’t continue.”

The solution, Biden suggested, was more young people running for office and voting.

“The system is wide open," he said. "You can drive a Mack Truck through it. And you’re smarter than we were.

“No one is more qualified than you. And you can change it.”

The receptive audience at the Vanderbilt lecture hall answered his message with applause.

Reach Adam Tamburin at atambrin@tennessean.com and 615-726-5986. Folllow him on Twitter @tamburintweeets.