President Biden wasted little time rattling off his accomplishments and promising to rebuild manufacturing and the middle class – a predictable laundry list that few delivering the State of the Union have been able to escape.
And while he was cordial to Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who now yields real power, Biden drew sharp partisan lines in calling for a minimum tax on billionaires – which, like so much in the speech, has no chance of passing the Republican House – and demanding action on the debt ceiling rather than holding the economy "hostage."
It was a strongly delivered speech by Biden’s standards, even if he did quote his dad for the umpteenth time, and of course, he vowed to protect Medicare and Social Security and boasted of having "broken Covid’s grip."
But he didn’t have a truly emotional moment until he introduced the parents of Tyre Nichols – "no words to describe the heartbreak and grief of losing a child" – who was fatally beaten by five black Memphis police officers. Yet that was also a reminder that he failed to deliver on police reform – and McCarthy will ensure that Biden’s renewed call for an assault weapons ban will go nowhere.
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Biden might have approached last night’s television audience with the wind at his back. He’s passed trillions of dollars in new legislation, much of it bipartisan, and the nonexistent red wave left his party in control of the Senate.
But three developments have blown him off course.
One is the Chinese spy balloon, which fairly or not left the president looking weak, and the Pentagon had to walk back claims on three previous incursions during Donald Trump’s watch. Those spycraft weren’t detected until after the fact.
The second is the classified documents mess, which has led to a special counsel investigation. Even Biden’s allies say he botched the whole thing, in part by withholding information, and an angry press corps turned on him.
But the most important factor is dwindling support for another Biden run. Some 58 percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents want a candidate other than the president, says a Washington Post/ABC poll.
Trump’s numbers with the GOP aren’t much better, but when almost six in 10 members of your own party want you to step aside – followup interviews showed that age concerns loomed large – it blunts the impact of any State of the Union. And it was much discussed in the pre-game media chatter.
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The president drew a line in the sand by declaring "if Congress passes a national abortion ban, I will veto it" - but the Democratic Senate won’t pass it, and the real battle is in the states.
For all the advance punditry about how the Chinese spy balloon would change the speech, it didn’t really. Biden mentioned it only obliquely.
After saying he wanted "competition, not conflict" with Beijing, the president said:
"But make no mistake: as we made clear last week, if China threatens our sovereignty, we will act to protect our country. And we did."
Yet that was also a reminder that he failed to deliver on police reform – and McCarthy will ensure that Biden’s renewed call for an assault weapons ban will go nowhere.
He was clearly determined to avoid escalating tensions, not even uttering the word balloon.
Also shoved into the speech were big ideas – a cancer "moonshot" - and small stuff, such as bank overdraft fees and airline overcharges.
Biden closed by talking about Jan. 6 and the Big Lie, denounced the "heinous" attack on Paul Pelosi, who was in the audience, and declaring there is "no place for political violence in America."
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Democrats loved the long, hour-plus speech, Republicans not so much, but at McCarthy’s urging, they were generally well-behaved.
Although Biden was on his game, I don’t think he changed many minds. His message boiled down to "everything’s great, and we’re going to make it even better." It was at once an optimistic pep talk and the opening salvo in his reelection campaign.
And, like most State of the Union speeches, will be largely forgotten within 48 hours.
