Vice President Joe Biden visited The Banshee in Dorchester on Wednesday night, Oct. 29, where he attended a private fundraiser for Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Martha Coakley.

Local residents hit the streets with curiosity, hoping to see the executive branch official, but instead were given a lesson in security protocol for high-ranking government officials.

A couple hundred feet worth of Dorchester Avenue outside the local bar was blocked off. There were dozens of local cops and secret service, both in uniform and undercover, whose identities were betrayed by the curlicue of audio pieces in their ears.

Atop a house was a group of snipers, and any citizens opening their windows were barked at to shut them. Local residents accumulated up against the barriers and on the sidewalk, some wondering what was going on, and others with their smartphones out ready to take a picture.

Biden is the most recent in a list of increasingly high-profile Democrats showing support for Coakley. Earlier this month, Michelle Obama was in Uphams Corner in Dorchester, and more recently, former president Bill Clinton was at a rally in Worcester, both campaigning for Coakley.

Behind rows of entourage cars and a giant white tent in front of The Banshee, Biden stayed for approximately two hours, before leaving in one of two limos. “So no one knows which one he is in,” said a local cop.

“As a big fan of The Banshee I think it is great to have the Vice President there,” said Kevin Gilnack.

Gilnack, a resident of Dorchester for eight years, stood with a Martha Coakley pin on his raincoat, smoking a cigarette behind the police barricade. He has long been a Coakley proponent, voting for her as Attorney General in this race’s primary and in her previous bid for Governor.

“I think it is really important to get volunteers excited and remind voters that the election is coming up and it is going to be a really close election. Massachusetts has a history of electing a Republican as Governor. [There are] a lot of [independent] candidates.”

“The only way we are going to win, especially with Charlie Baker and his supporters pouring in eight million more dollars than Martha Coakley in the race, is to get folks fired up. People like Joe Biden, Hillary, and Michelle, all do a great job of getting to voters.”
As the police trickled away from the scene, a woman with a thick South Boston accent said to no one in particular, “Of course I leave the house when he just left.”