by Carl P. Leubsdorf
Like prior presidents, Joe Biden used his State of the Union speech to build on his achievements and to lay the basis for what quite clearly is a plan to seek a second term.
“Let’s finish the job,” Biden urged Congress in an optimistic, forward-looking speech that may have been the most vigorous and effective of his presidency. After two years in office, he said, “the State of the Union is strong.”
Biden’s tone and substance were clearly aimed at countering perceptions he is a weak leader and overcoming the gap between his view of his administration’s record and widespread public doubts suggesting he may face a tough sell in seeking reelection.
Recent polls show more Americans think the country is in a recession than making economic progress and don’t believe that Biden has achieved very much despite the legislative successes in his two years in office. A majority of Democrats say they don’t want him to run again.
But Biden may benefit politically from the contrast between his tone and substance and the frequent heckling of some Republicans. Loud jeers erupted from the GOP’s most conservative members when he said, in discussing the budget, that “some Republicans (and he stressed “some”) want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” meaning “if Congress doesn’t keep the programs the way they are, they go away.”
McCarthy sought in vain to shush them, but shouts and boos persisted, and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene shouted “liar.”
“Anybody who doubts it, contact my office,” responded Biden. “I’ll give you a copy,” presumably referring to last year’s sunset proposal by Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida.
For the most part, Biden appealed for a bipartisan approach to tackle such problems as immigration and the debt ceiling, repeatedly noting how much Republicans helped pass the significant legislation in his first two years.
“Let’s sit down together,” he said, telling McCarthy at the outset, “Speaker, I don’t want to ruin your reputation, but I look forward to working with you.”
Many of the president’s comments seemed to recognize his difficulty in getting through to voters, like the 3 in 5 in a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll who said they believed he hadn’t accomplished very much.
More specifically, the poll showed only about 1 in 3 said they thought Biden has made progress in “improving the roads and bridges in your community,” while 3 in 5 said he hadn’t.
So, in discussing his massive infrastructure program to rebuild the nation’s roads, bridges and sewer systems, he said, “Already, we’ve funded over 20,000 projects, including at major airports from Boston to Atlanta to Portland. And folks,” he added, “we’re just getting started.”
The president also sought to counter the widespread view, reflected in several recent polls, that the country is either in an economic recession or likely to enter one later this year.
He said unemployment is at “a 50-year low,” noted 12 million new jobs have been created since his administration took office, and added that inflation has come down for the last six months. “Gas prices are down $1.50 a gallon since their peak,” he added.
Biden stressed that much of his economic program is aimed at “places and people that have been forgotten,” calling it “a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives at home.”
His speech was heavily keyed to domestic issues, spending just five of its 70 minutes focused abroad. He noted that “in the past two years, democracies have become stronger, not weaker,” and hailed the West’s help for Ukraine’s resistance to Russia’s aggression. “We’re going to stand with you as long as it takes,” he said, as the country’s ambassador stood in the gallery.
In the wake of last week’s incident in which a Chinese spy balloon flew over the United States before being shot down, he warned, “If China invades our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country — and we did.”
In a combative Republican response heavy on social issues, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders charged Biden is “more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day.”
Sanders, who was Donald Trump’s press secretary, did not mention the former president by name but sought to contrast the fact that, at 40, she is the nation’s youngest governor and reflects “a new generation of Republican leaders” while “he’s the oldest president in American history.”
For at least one night, however, Biden looked vigorous and sharp, a demeanor he will need to maintain if he is to win reelection.
Three of the four most recent presidents who won second terms — Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama — were especially effective salesmen for their policies. By contrast, those who lost — Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Donald Trump — were not.
Because of his age, how Biden looks and speaks could well determine his 2024 success as much as his policies.
