Exciting is not usually a word describing a State of the Union address. Most SOTUs have been overlong, banal affairs loaded with policy wishes that will never be realized. But President Biden's SOTU last night was an energetic display of reelection bona fides mixed with partisan jabs at an extremist, off-the-wall Republican conference.
Biden's twofold rhetorical approach was one of pledging to cooperate with the opposition party while emphasizing that he would brook no backsliding from the opposition's nihilists. "To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there’s no reason we can’t work together and find consensus on important things in this Congress as well," said the president — with something of a wink of the eye.
For this was as much a campaign speech as a sober assessment of the Union's state. The two are not separable, however, in that pitching another four years necessarily compelled a presidential recitation of the good accomplished so far. Necessarily, since the American public appears largely unaware of Biden's thriving economy: "Inflation is coming down," "take-home pay has gone up," "gas prices are down $1.50 a gallon since their peak," and in the past two years, "a record 10 million Americans applied to start a new small business," said Biden.
Such have been just a few of the economic gains since the previous administration wrecked the economy in its vast mishandling of the Covid crisis, which it treated as a political problem. Now the electorate seems stuck in the past; still sour, though in much better times. This administration has also capped drug prices for seniors, expanded veterans' health benefits, tackled climate change and is rebuilding America's infrastructure.
Yet throughout Biden's second year in office, his job approval rating has averaged a mere 41%. Only Trump did worse, according to Gallup. Biden has faced headwinds not of his making — especially inflation, a natural repercussion of the pandemic's pent-up demand and clogged, global supply chains. He'll need to give a lot more speeches noting America's socioeconomic progress since those four awful years of Trumpism.
He's ready, though, and remarkably feisty. Last night he accurately slammed Republicans for threatening Social Security and Medicare, which brought about Republicans' customary urbanity: "Bullshit!" yelled one; "Liar!" howled Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. To the latter Biden calmly replied, "Contact my office" — for an education.
As members of the opposition persisted in protesting any mention of their proposed cuts to these vital programs, Biden jabbed again: "I’m glad to see — no, I tell you, I enjoy [religious] conversion," adding extemporaneously, "So, folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books now, right? All right. We’ve got unanimity."
But, of course, we do not. And so the president pressed on: "Some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage unless I agree to their economic plans. All of you at home should know what their plans are. Instead of making the wealthy pay their fair share, some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years.... Other Republicans say if we don’t cut Social Security and Medicare, they’ll let America default on its debt for the first time in our history."
Indeed they will, although Biden said "I won’t let that happen." What was clarified here is that he won't let cuts to Social Security and Medicare happen. A historic American default on its debt is an altogether different happening — one that Republicans seem eager to inflict, and which the president cannot stop singlehandedly.
What did Republicans' spokeswoman, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, have to say about all this? Well, our moderate president, a tool of the "radical left," she said, "is simply unfit to serve as commander in chief." For one thing he's too old — although Donald Trump, roughly the same age, is not — but mostly "the Biden administration seems more interested in woke fantasies than the hard reality Americans face every day.... We are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn’t start and never wanted to fight."
Stunning. A mere 18 words containing four lies. We are under no attack, the culture war is a right-wing invention, they started it, and they're randy to keep banging away at it. Talk of policy and policy disagreements bore the Republican base. It wants, it demands, blood — all the exsanguinating thrills of trans-, LGBTQ- and woke-bashing.
Happily, President Biden is just as randy to take on the Republicans. That, he proved last night.