Themacforums – Biden Contrasts GOP State of the Union. In his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden intends to sketch out the broad contours of the likely campaign that will follow, contrasting his idea of steady leadership with the recently elected, probably chaotic Republican House.
In secret, his aides are hoping that the GOP members present will assist him in drawing the difference.
Tuesday night’s talk to Congress will include the president’s largest audience of the year, and throughout it, according to aides, he will reach across the aisle while simultaneously warning that extreme voices on the right pose a threat to rights both at home and in Europe.
Although Biden won’t specifically name them, his allies think that having newly prominent House Republicans in the room will support his claims. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado heckled Vice President Joe Biden last year, and images of their yelling went viral. The contrast between agitation in the audience and firm leadership on the dais is something that White House aides quietly concede they wouldn’t mind happening again this time.
“Who are we and who do we aspire to be? is always the subject of a State of the Union address. What do we believe in and for what do we stand? Jen Psaki, formerly Biden’s press secretary, stated. “That is not to downplay or reject the serious issues facing the nation, but to say ‘I will work with people to take them on.”
However, the next campaign will be the address’s subtext rather than the MPs now seated. Although Biden hasn’t formally announced his candidature, the State of the Union might serve as a soft start for a 2024 run. Although several of the president’s closest advisers caution that a final decision has not yet been made, the president has stated that he plans to run for reelection. According to four sources with knowledge of the choice, the timing for an announcement has changed in a rather typical Biden way.
An announcement had been originally scheduled for March or April, in part to help with fundraising, but there had been discussions about pushing it back to late February. As the White House struggles with the appointment of a special counsel to look into the finding of improperly handled secret materials at Biden’s Delaware home and former office, that may have now fallen by the wayside once more.
In light of the controversies around him, Biden’s advisers have played down the significance of the discovery. They think that the Democrats’ victories in November put an end to rumors of a party challenger and gave the 80-year-old president more time to decide.
However, Biden still has to overcome obstacles before his speech on Tuesday.
In the months to come, his presidency may be defined by a divided Washington and a widening range of difficulties. Republicans in the House are intensifying their inquiries. The conflict over Ukraine is still going on. And in just the past two weeks, a shocking video of a Black guy being brutally killed by police has sent the nation into shock.
On Tuesday, Biden is anticipated to address the nation, arguing that while the country recovers from the COVID pandemic and the challenges brought on by Donald Trump’s presidency, it is at a turning moment.
Just a few days after Vladimir Putin moved his Russian army across the Ukrainian border, Biden gave his first State of the Union address last year. Biden utilized a broad section of his address to make the case that defending Ukraine was defending democracies all around the world as Kyiv’s destiny hung in the balance.
The situation will now be different. Ukraine has displayed incredible fortitude in fending off much of Russia’s onslaught, but the conflict has devolved into a slog as Kyiv has been pleading for more arms for months, if not years. According to advisers, Biden will explain to the people the necessity of ongoing, sustained American commitment.
Republicans will be urged by him to disregard any voices inside their own party calling for Ukraine money to be reduced.
The necessity to raise the country’s debt ceiling will be a major component of Biden’s argument in his battle with Republicans. By linking it to his management of the economy, he will make it plain that he will not negotiate on the budgetary future of the nation. Despite the fact that inflation is still high, it has started to decline. The president is anticipated to highlight the nation’s record low unemployment rate, robust employment figures, and a growing consensus among analysts that the country could avoid a recession.
Kevin Madden, a Republican strategist who served as a key advisor on Mitt Romney’s 2012 presidential campaign, advised on tone: “Be forceful without [being] aggressive.” “And the suffering that inflation has brought around ought to be acknowledged. It can’t just be “positive talk” about the economy they’ve handled. You could come off as being out of the loop.
Any State of the Union address is current and reflects the difficulties the nation is facing at the time it is delivered. Biden’s staffers recently included passages about the collective tragedies the country experienced last month.
Biden will once more advocate for a ban on assault rifles in the wake of numerous mass shootings, including two that occurred in California just days apart. This proposal has little chance of being supported by Republicans. And he will probably express his sorrow for Tyre Nichols, a Black man who died at the hands of Memphis police officers last month, along with the rest of the country, attempting to strike a delicate balance between expressing his support for law enforcement and his call for police reform.
There is still benefit in the president proposing something that polls show is supported by the majority of Americans, according to the president’s advisers, even though some laws, such as the assault weapons prohibition and the George Floyd Policing Bill, have little chance of becoming law.
In certain parts of his speech, Biden will look backward, reflecting the political reality of a split Congress unlikely to approve significant legislation against the backdrop of Republican investigations into the president’s administration and family. However, White House staffers think that would work to their advantage because it would provide the president an opportunity to decry the GOP for the current impasse while praising his administration’s achievements.
Infrastructure will be one example. Aides want Biden to highlight the initiatives now underway made possible by the $1 trillion in federal money and to use the president’s visits to two projects last week in Baltimore and New York City as a preview of the year to come. Beginning immediately, Biden will begin touring the nation to promote projects supported by his administration.
