Biden’s State of the Union
The State of the Union address is a time-honoured American political tradition. It is not only a revered opportunity for the people to hear from the President as the leader of the nation rather than the leader of a party, but it is also an opportunity for the President to assert their vision for the next year and address the concerns of the people. The first State of the Union Address for a president is a significant moment that can dictate the remainder of their term and their future electability. Therefore, much pressure was on President Biden and his staff.
It has been a couple of weeks since President Biden’s State of the Union address and now that major, global news outlets have all had a chance to respond, one can evaluate how the President’s speech was received by the public.
The focus of speculation on Biden’s speech was notably how he elected to handle Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This was the topic he opened with. He expressed condemnation of Vladimir Putin’s murderous efforts and praised the Ukrainian military and civilian forces. Furthermore, he attempted to assert a pro-democracy message on behalf of America, NATO, and the West in the face of Putin’s ambition of global authoritarianism. What was also notable was his efforts to prepare Americans for the effects they would experience due to the economic sanctions being placed on Russia, including the rise in gas prices which were already high. Overall, both Republican and Democratic pundits thought that the President handled the topic of Ukraine strongly. It was Biden’s approach to domestic policy that has people more divided.
Some argued that Biden spent the time “shifting through the wreckage of his disastrous Build Back Better negotiations with Manchin, searching for workable leftovers.” There was a general opinion that President Biden provided few answers to America’s domestic problems. He approached the topics on America’s economy and handling COVID-19 with much optimism, but topics such as re-structuring law enforcement and protecting abortion rights were met with little legislative direction.
On the other hand, topics such as the child tax credit, lowering health care costs, and voting rights protections did a good job of reflecting the direction that Biden wants to take the country. For many Democrats, this optimism was what they were looking for. They want assurance that the office of the presidency is pushing towards this pro-democracy future. It represented the reasons why they chose Biden in the primary: stability and optimism. However, for conservatives, this speech represented a failure of the presidency to address the issues that matter to them such as immigration and inflation.
In analysing the feedback to the State of the Union address, an appropriate question to be raised is: how can we expect Biden’s message and direction to affect the midterms? Much of what can be stipulated would be affected by personal bias. Writers from CNN and FOX News present divisive positions on this topic. Despite Biden’s best attempts at promoting unity across the parties, his rebuke of the defunding the police movement and the aggressive actions by Representatives Lauren Boebert and Marjorie Taylor Greene in protest of the administration only goes to show the continued divisiveness not just between parties but within. Biden may have trouble gaining support from longtime moderate democrats in his rejection of policies supported by his progressive base, and the continued action by far-right leaders like Boebert and Greene represent the ostentatious vocality of the American far-right. It would not be far off to expect that Democrats will face a problem with motivating their base while Republicans will be wrought with the challenge of balancing the empowerment of their extremists.
Overall, Biden’s response to Ukraine was what it needed to be. He was firm and clear against Putin’s actions and did his best to warn the American public of the economic impacts of the sanctions against Russia while maintaining why it was quintessential to see these sanctions through. How one views Biden’s position on domestic concerns will vary on one’s political leanings. However, in general, pundits have viewed Biden’s speech as safe and stable - two words that have characterised the Biden presidency in general.
Image courtesy of The White House via Wikimedia, ©2022, some rights reserved.
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the wider St. Andrews Foreign Affairs Review team.
