By JOSH BOAK and AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press) WASHINGTON (AP) — The State of the Union address tends to have a ritual rhythm. Grand entrance. Applause. Platitudes. Policies. Appeals for Unity, real or imagined. President Joe Biden checked those boxes, and a few more, during his speech to a joint session on Congress on Tuesday […]
By JOSH BOAK and AAMER MADHANI (Associated Press)
WASHINGTON The State of the Union address tends to have a ritual rhythm. Grand entrance. Applause. Platitudes. Policies. Appeals for Unity, real or imagined.
President Joe Biden checked those boxes, and a few more, during his speech to a joint session on Congress on Tuesday night. In part, he seemed to be laying the foundation to run for a second term. “We’ve been sent here to finish the job,” he said.
Biden made calls for unity and tried to emphasize conciliation over conflict, easier to do in this rarefied setting, seemingly impossible to sustain in such divided times.
Takeaways from the president’s State of the Union address:
MORE CONCILIATION THAN CONFLICT
Biden’s speech almost defiantly ignored the bitter divisions between Republicans and Democrats and his own low standing with the public.
He returned repeatedly to common ground, making the case that both parties can back U.S. factories, new businesses being formed and the funding of 20,000 infrastructure projects. When Biden hit each of these themes, Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy politely clapped, even standing to applaud at one point.
It’s a sign that Democrats and Republicans can at least agree to a shared set of goals, even if they have very different views of how to get there.
In the midterm election campaign, Biden warned of Republican extremists. On Tuesday night, he portrayed them as partners in governance during the first two years of his presidency.
But then came a Biden comment that generated boos and hoots from Republicans: Biden said some in the GOP were bent on cutting Social Security and Medicare.
That sparked a raucous back and forth that seemed more in line with the reality of the actual relationship between the parties.
REGULAR JOE
Biden used the speech to highlight his focus on the common man, calling out billionaires who pay lower tax rates than the middle class and airlines that treat their passengers like “suckers.
