There’s a reason he has avoided other opportunities to capture national attention, even though he has a wide lead over Donald Trump in both national polls and battleground state polls.
The road leading up to Thursday night appeared to be a bumpy one for President Biden.
There’s a reason he has avoided other opportunities to capture national attention, even though he has a wide lead over Donald Trump in both national polls and battleground state polls.
Despite this, Biden couldn’t get out of squirming and delivering his State of the Union address.
He had a constitutional obligation to address the nation, so he did so in prime time.
Biden spoke awkwardly and his age was immediately apparent under the lights, a fact he joked about.
But there’s no denying that Mr. Biden, who appeared at the Capitol on Thursday, brought far more energy and focus to the table than we see each day fumbling through our limited schedules.
He proved to be fast despite his heckling.
And wisely, his speech was aimed at highlighting the weaknesses of the Republican Party and its standard bearer.
set a trap for trump
If Mr. Biden has a chance of winning in November, it does not mean that Mr. Biden is a good choice, but that he has a convincing argument that he would be the right choice if the alternative candidate was Donald Trump. Probably because he made a certain point.
He began his speech by asserting that the United States has an obligation to continue helping Ukraine defeat Russia in Eastern Europe.
This should not be a strong argument for Biden.
In 2012, he mocked Mitt Romney for accurately diagnosing the Russian regime’s intentions.
Then, as president, he lifted sanctions on Putin’s lucrative Nord Stream 2 pipeline and invited invasion with a submissive and chaotic foreign policy exemplified by the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Follow The Post’s coverage of Joe Biden’s pivotal State of the Union address as he faces re-election.
Moreover, Biden himself has delayed the delivery of critical weapons to the Ukrainians since the outbreak of the war.
But it was effective when he contrasted Trump’s declaration that Putin “can do anything” with his ally, President Ronald Reagan’s “tear down this wall” speech.
Far from undermining Biden, many Republicans are strangely accusing him of not acquiescing enough to Putin. It’s gleefully evil political malpractice.
“My message to President Putin is simple: We are not going to walk away. We are not going to bow down. I am not going to bow down,” Biden said.
It was a message of justice and good politics.
Biden then reminded the nation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
“My predecessor and some of you here are trying to bury the truth of January 6th,” he declared.
This is a trap that President Trump is completely falling into.
Trump’s ego will not stop him from claiming he won the 2020 presidential election, despite having an advantage with voters on nearly every major policy issue.
At last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference, President Trump opened his speech by playing a recording of the national anthem performed by “hostages” from Jan. 6, people who have been charged or convicted of crimes.
If President Trump wants to run in 2024 touting the national disgrace he committed in 2021, Biden will be happy to watch him do so.
Biden concluded his first three talking points with a sharp critique of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision and Republican efforts to restrict abortion.
“Many of you in this chamber and my predecessor have committed to passing a national reproductive freedom ban,” Biden said.
“God, what freedom are you going to take away next?” he wondered aloud. This is shameless demagogy, but that doesn’t mean it’s ineffective.
Republicans have yet to come up with a consistent, compassionate pro-life message that satisfies the core constituencies they need to win elections, including this one.
The boasting sounded hollow
Biden spent much of the rest of his speech painting a picture of a productive and successful administration, but there isn’t enough lipstick in the world to make that pig beautiful.
Americans are right to be pessimistic about the economy and rightly furious that their southern border is being ignored.
He didn’t bother to mention the term Bidennomics, but he offered election-year benefits like a $400-a-month mortgage tax credit.
The reason why the murder of Laken Riley by an illegal alien caused such a stir was clearly the result of a policy choice.
Even Biden acknowledged as much when he responded to a Republican request to say her name from the podium.
Still, Thursday was a success for Biden.
As a performer, he exceeded expectations, but more importantly, he revived careful strategy.
Biden defeated Trump in 2020 by turning the election into a referendum against Trump.
This time we are following the same route.
And while that should be harder for incumbents, Trump and the Republican yes-men made it possible.
