Forget spin, Biden SOTU exposed failures to defeat inflation, fix border and contain China
In his State of the Union address, an embattled unpopular President Joe Biden addressed a skeptical and worried nation last night amidst multiple crises at home and abroad. At 80, he lacks the clarity and energy to persuade and inspire a citizenry that tells pollsters they disapprove of his handling of key issues that keep them up at night and don't want him to run for a second term. Tuesday night did little to change that, and exposed the political, cultural and policy cleavages of a nation he promised to unify.
Forget Democrat spin about what a great orator Biden, who is not a great orator, was Tuesday night. Instead, listen to the people: 58% of Americans believe the state of the union is not strong, 62% say Biden his done nothing or precious little to beat back inflation, avoid recession, contain China or remove the welcome mat from the porous southern border.
His messages are less compelling given that as a messenger (and as commander-in-chief) Biden is viewed as dishonest, incompetent, mentally unfit for the job, unable to manage a crisis and divisive.
Biden audaciously addressed issues in his State of the Union that he has ignored throughout his presidency, e.g., fentanyl, now the number one killer of 18-44-year-olds in the U.S.; kids under 14 are dying from fentanyl faster than any other age group. He also stumbled and bumbled his way into picking fights and prevaricating about on Medicare and Social Security and oil and gas that caused him to cede the spotlight and lose command of the room.
Biden’s causal relationship with the truth was on full display, along with his communication deficits that are causing Democrats to openly criticize him and search for 2024 alternatives.
It was great to see House Speaker Republican Kevin McCarthy in the seat where Nancy Pelosi sat for too long. He was dignified and restrained, without the eye rolling, lips-pursing bizarre conduct and raw partisanship, the low point of which was Pelosi tearing up a hard copy of President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech and with it, tearing up mention on those pages and recognition in the chamber the last surviving Tuskegee Airman, the survival of a child born at 21 weeks and the mourning families of Rocky Jones and Kayla Mueller.
What didn’t look different is Biden. He is starting year three how he has started every other year of his presidency, by trying to convince the American people to believe what he says, not what they see, when it comes to the economy, the southern border, public safety, foreign policy and energy policy. Biden doubled down on this strategy last night in his State of the Union.
Biden falsely bragged about his "record" job creation and his infrastructure bill, claims the public soundly rejects in recent polling. Sixty percent don’t think Biden created "more good jobs" in their community and don’t think he "has improved roads and bridges" in their community.
Despite Biden hailing his economy, this week a record 41% said they are "not as well-off financially" since Biden became president, which is the highest on record since the measurement began in 1986. Furthermore, a February 1, Fox News poll showed that 56% say inflation is "not under control at all" and 74% think we are likely headed into a recession this year. The public’s raw economic perception has become the president’s rude political reality.
As Biden seeks reelection, it comes as no surprise that he is trying to fool voters he is pivoting to the center. While plenty of his speech was meant to reassure the progressive left, Biden rediscovered his Inauguration Day pledge to unify the country and work across the aisle in his State of the Union address, but fleetingly and unconvincingly. Much like his bizarre, devil of a speech in Philadelphia a few months ago, Biden took pot shots at the 74 million men and women who voted against him.
The Democrat party is stuck. No single speech will solve that. They are saddled with an unpopular president and even more unpopular vice president in Kamala Harris who, according to the Washington Post, has Democrats worried about her political prospects and per the New York Times, even her allies have said, "she had not risen to the challenge of proving herself as a future leader of the party, much less the country."
The state of our union is shaky. Partisan hooting and hollering aside, Biden is having a terrible 2023. Poor poll numbers, a growing scandalabra about mishandling of classified documents, his slow response to the Chinese spy balloon, and a Republican Congress poised to hold this administration accountable for policy blunders, reckless spending and feckless leadership. Republicans must reclaim the mantle of fiscal responsibility and sanity.
Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, half Biden’s age and with twice his communications skills, offered a crisp, contrasting choice and vision for America in the Republican rebuttal.
As Sanders said, "Republicans believe in an America where strong families thrive is safe communities; where jobs are abundant and paychecks are rising; where the freedom our veterans shed their blood to defend is the birthright of every man, woman and child."
Republican elected officials must remind voters that the Republican Party stands for freedom, fairness, security, life, liberty, opportunity and prosperity and take on Biden and the rest of the Democrats. The American people are smarter and deserve better than what the Democrats are dishing out and counting on to succeed: that a fractured, exhausted, nervous nation believe not what it sees, but what the Democrats say.
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