The president has been underestimated in the past
Do Democrat Candidates Care about the Economy, Abelian Laws or Abortion? The Case for Blake Masters in the Arizona Midterm Elections
But another critical factor is that many of the voter groups that Democrats most rely upon are relatively less focused on the issues where public concerns about Biden’s performance are greatest, and more focused on issues where anxieties are greatest about the intentions of Republicans. Ayres says that the red and blue teams care about abortion and democracy, while the blue team is worried about crime and immigration. “And there’s obviously a little overlap, particularly on the inflation front. But we have become so polarized that the two different teams care about different things and are motivated by different things.”
Some of the doubts about Biden may be assuaged by Democrats’ surprisingly strong performance in the midterm elections. As of early Friday afternoon, Democrats still have a slim chance of keeping their House majority and a much better chance of holding onto their Senate majority.
A vice president of a Democratic group that focuses on campaigns and candidates of color says that stressing the risk of abortion rights can increase turnout among liberal-leaning groups. But she largely agrees that most of the persuadable voters who might move to Democrats around the abortion issue have already done so and that the party during the campaign’s final stretch must ensure it has a competitive message on the economy and other daily concerns. “The reality is everybody is always going to be focused on the things that are affecting their everyday life,” she says. I don’t think that is a correct choice to be thinking about: is the economy or abortion?
Over the past week a push and pull between these priorities have been demonstrated in Senate debates in states like Wisconsin, North Carolina and Arizona. During last week’s televised Arizona encounter, for instance, Republican challenger Blake Masters came out of the gate very strong and kept Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly on the defensive by relentlessly linking him to Biden while the conversation initially focused on inflation and border security. As the discussion shifted from abortion and election integrity to abortion and Trump, Kelly regained the lead as Masters struggled to explain his support for the GOP primary for a near total ban on abortion and his embrace of false claims of widespread fraud.
The midterm elections, in which Democrats held the Senate and Republicans won a tiny House majority, help explain the poll’s findings. When Biden promised a return to normal after the issues of public health and inflation, he wasn’t very popular with voters, who were tired of him being off the trail in battleground states. But they didn’t trust a GOP still largely under Trump’s sway to fix things either.
The sheer intractability of our modern political divisions leave less voters open to shifting loyalties, no matter how unhappy they are with current conditions. The Senate races in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and New Hampshire have been hurt by the nomination of Trump-aligned candidates that many voters feel are unqualified, extreme or both.
The national NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist Poll released last week offered the latest snapshot of this divergence. Asked what issue they considered most important in 2022, Republicans overwhelmingly chose inflation (52%) and immigration (18%). A comparable share of Democrats picked preserving democracy (32%), abortion (21%) and health care (15%). Inflation, immigration, democracy, and health care are among the priorities of the two parties, but independents split in half between them. Voters with at least a four-year college degree leaned relatively more toward democracy and abortion; those without degrees (including Latinos) tended to stress inflation. This survey did not include crime as an option but it has provoked the most concern from Republicans and non-college educated voters.
Democrats everywhere are stressing rights and values but also cautioning about the danger of Trump and his movement due to the disparity. Since June, as CNN recently reported, Democratic candidates have spent over $130 million on abortion-themed ads, vastly more than Republicans.
The War Against the World: Sensitivities to the Future of Domestic Production and Health Care in Biden’s 2024 Campaign
The incentives for domestic production embedded in the Biden legislative achievements will help create a boom in US employment over time, according to the most important argument.
But those plant openings are mostly still in the future and only a few Democrats (such as Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, Arizona Sen. Kelly, and Ohio Senate candidate Tim Ryan) are emphasizing those possibilities this year.
More commonly, Democrats are stressing legislation the party has passed that offers families some relief on specific costs, especially the provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices. Democratic pollster Geoff Garin says that highlighting such specific initiatives can allow individual candidates to overcome the negative overall judgment on Biden’s economic management. He is worried that too many Democrats are focusing on abortion in order to communicate an economic message.
The coming manufacturing boom and cost-saving provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act are part of a larger argument that Democrats are trying to build a sea wall against economic discontent. But the campaign’s final weeks will measure whether that current reaches a level that breaches all of the party’s defenses.
The GOP has considerable momentum in its bid to win back the House of Representatives while the destiny of the Democratic-run Senate will come down to a handful of knife-edge races. A Republican triumph in either chamber would severely curtail Biden’s domestic presidency and set up an acrimonious two years of political standoffs ahead of the 2024 White House race.
He hadn’t spoken to Congress since Republicans captured control of the House of Representatives. With newly-elected GOP House Speaker Kevin McCarthy sitting over his shoulder, Biden urged Congress to pass a lengthy list of his unfinished priorities.
In a sign of the crucial stakes and growing angst among Democrats, the presidents of Barack Obama, Biden, Donald Trump, and Bill Clinton all took to the campaign trail over the weekend.
Former President Donald Trump has already announced that he is running in 2024. He started to roll out the same kind of anti-establishment vitriol, centered on the war against the world message that he deployed successfully against a crowded field of Republican challengers. But this time may be more difficult for him because he comes to the campaign trail with more baggage than the first time around. He is under investigation by the Justice Department and could be charged with a crime if they move forward with criminal charges. (Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has diminished the investigations as politically motivated, calling them a “witch hunt.”)
The Story of a Democratic Presidential Insurrection: Revisiting President Biden on January 6, 2020 as a Threat to America’s Core Values
Biden, who spent Saturday getting out the vote in the critical Pennsylvania Senate race with Obama, warned that the nation’s core values are in peril from Republicans who denied the truth about the US Capitol insurrection and following the brutal attack on Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul.
Biden grabbed the MAGA message of losing pride in America, but rather than going backward to a pre-civil rights era, he reflected it back onto feeling unmoored in recent years. He referred to January 6 as the day that the democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War, by adopting the terminology of an insurrection. But many members in the audience still support the lie that the 2020 election was stolen and are part of that threat to democracy.
At the Maryland Democratic event the president will end his attempt to avoid a rebuke from voters. The fact that he will be in a liberal bastion and not trying to boost an endangered lawmaker in a key race on the final night reflects his compromised standing in an election that has reverted to a referendum on his tattered credibility and low approval ratings.
Democrats are playing defense in blue-state strongholds like New York, Washington and Oregon and are waging a longshot struggle to cling to the House of Representatives. Republicans need to gain five seats to win back control. A handful of swing state showdowns will decide the destiny of the Senate, currently split 50-50, including in Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania. The race in New Hampshire between Democratic Sen.Maggie Hassan and a retired Army brigadier is attracting renewed interest from Republicans. Gen. Don Bolduc, a pro-Trump candidate Democrats brand as an election-denying extremist.
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel predicted on CNN’s “State of the Union” that her party would win both the House and the Senate and accused Biden of being oblivious to the economic anxiety among Americans with his repeated warnings about democracy.
Republicans claim that Mr. Biden lied about their intentions. Many, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, say they are not willing to consider any proposals to cut funding for Medicare and Social Security to pay for desired reductions in the nation’s debt and deficit. Republicans booed Mr Biden when he suggested the opposite.
President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech served as the launch of his 2024 reelection. He shared themes with Americans, but didn’t give much in the way of details. Delivered in a folksy manner, Biden’s speech called for higher taxes on the wealthy, as he took his usual shots at private sector companies for not paying their “fair share” — music to the ears of his progressive base.
The Sore and Tough Environment of the Midterms: Why Biden and Obama, Johnson and Hochul, haven’t met with Trump
The midterms are the first national vote since the chaos and violence triggered by Trump’s refusal to accept the result of the last presidential election and there are already fears that some Republican candidates may follow his example and try to defy the will of voters if they don’t win. Some, like Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson, have already raised concerns about the integrity of the vote.
On Sunday a staffer opened a letter at the headquarters of the pro-Trump candidate for Arizona Governor, suggesting there was white powder in it. Lake’s opponent, current Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, condemned the incident as “incredibly concerning.”
On a frenetic final weekend of campaigning, Biden and Obama tried to push Democratic nominee John Fetterman over the line in a Pennsylvania Senate race that represents the party’s best chance to pick up a GOP-held Senate seat. The chamber is in danger of being turned to the GOP in states like Arizona and Nevada. Republicans need to make a net gain to win the majority.
Conservative voters have been impressed by the fact that he has taken on hot button culture war issues, but he hasn’t met with Trump yet. The governor of Florida, who won an easy reelection race last month, hasn’t made a decision on if he’ll run against Trump. He would have to fight back against Trump in a series of debates if he wants to retain the support of Republicans who still view a former president as a cult figure.
The Florida governor decided to ignore Biden and call Charlie Crist a donkey, and instead heaped credit on himself for breaking with Washington officials and experts during the Pandemic.
Trump teased the likelihood of a presidential run but didn’t repeat his mockery of the congressman at his rally on Sunday. In another sign of the presidential race moving in a certain direction, Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton announced that he wouldn’t be joining the Republican primary.
Clinton was in Brooklyn on Saturday to stump for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. The Empire state should be safe territory for his party but Hochul’s closer-than-expected reelection race against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin underscores the toughness of the national environment for Democrats.
Your life is at stake, and your average election rally is just a get out the vote event. For young people in the audience, your life is on the line,” Clinton said.
Biden, however, has not managed to speak effectively and personally to Americans craving a return to normality after the pandemic or to get across that he fully understands the pain of rising prices in a 40-year-high inflation explosion that his White House once repeatedly branded “transitory.”
To be sure, Democrats should check their enthusiasm. Even with narrow majorities, a Republican-controlled House of Representatives can cause immense problems for Biden. They can obstruct his legislation, perpetually investigate him and his family and steer the agenda in a way that is damaging to Democrats. If Republicans also gain control of the Senate, they too can double down on the obstruction, including with Biden’s judicial picks.
A GOP majority would contain many candidates who share the same beliefs as Trump and would be able to cause damage to the president before a potential re-enactment with him in 2024. Biden wanted to balance out the judiciary after four years of Trump nominating conservative judges.
Julian Zelizer: Democrat Correlations in the epoch of repression and the fall of the U.S.
Zelizer is a professor of history and public affairs at the Ivy League school. He is the author and editor of 24 books, including “The Presidency of Donald J. Trump: a First Historical Assessment.” Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. CNN has more opinion on it.
Biden deserves credit as well. As Nate Cohn explained on the New York Times podcast “The Daily,” Democratic success came in regions of the country where concerns over the health of the democracy and reproductive rights helped drive turnout. In the closing days, Biden worked hard to emphasize these specific issues, closing the campaign with a high-profile speech about the need to protect democracy even as pollsters were saying that inflation would be the dominant concern.
Democrats did well in a number of states. Many election deniers lost, including the secretary of state. Even in states where Democrats were walloped, such as in New York, there were bright spots, including Gov. Kathy Hochul’s victory over the Trump-endorsed Republican Lee Zeldin.
The outcome was a surprise to both parties. Since World War II, the party of the president has lost control of both the House and Senate, with an average loss of 26 seats. Under former President Donald Trump, Republicans lost 40 seats in the House in 2018. In 2010 and 1994, the Democrats lost a lot of seats in the House.
The next Congress, despite the Republican majority in the house, will be different than what the White House thought before the election. A combination of macroeconomic factors and historical precedent led to a less than ideal environment that made them believe in their legislative agenda, even though they were confident in their popularity.
Biden’s best answer to those Democrats who would prefer another candidate is that he’s already beaten Trump in 2020 and staved off the traditional first-term shellacking for first-term presidents in the midterms, partly by warning Trump’s ultra-MAGA forces were mustering for another assault on American democracy.
There were the 2020 midterms. The GOP will likely gain control of one or both chambers of Congress, but they are likely to be frustrated. By getting involved in the race and supporting some candidates, Trump managed to make the election more about him than it is about the president. Many of his hand- selected candidates, such as Dr. Mehmet Oz, lost.
Nor is Trump anywhere close to done. We have seen how effective he can be when he fires up his own campaign. He has a keen sense for operating in modern media environments, as well as command intense support within the party. George W. Bush came out of this week looking a lot like Ron DeSantis after he won his reelection bid in 1998 and then went onto win the presidency in 2000. Given his ability to appeal to the core of the Republican Party and potentially expand into new constituencies such as Latinos, he could pose a serious threat to Democrats in his ability to pull off a more polished version of Trumpism.
If the election was red wave that many political consultants were predicting, there would have been much more public scrutiny of Biden because of the concerns over his age and strength. For now, he has spared that.
Biden is the oldest president in history, and he wants to run for president again. He is expected to make an announcement soon.
Whether you like it or not, this speech made it clear that Biden is running for a second term. And he seems like he is ready to fight for the American people and for every American’s vote.
A new CNN Poll shows that there is little appetite for a presidential election in 2020 as polls show that the majority of voters wish to see a different nominee in two years.
More than 40% of those who want someone else besides Trump to be the nominee have a specific alternate candidate in mind. None of the other potential nominees was named by more than 1%. The survey also finds DeSantis’ favorability among Republicans and Republican-leaning independent voters overall outpacing the former president’s ratings: 74% view DeSantis favorably and 7% unfavorably, while 63% have a favorable view of Trump and 28% an unfavorable one.
The steepest drops in support for a Trump bid came among older Republican-aligned voters (from 55% of Republicans and Republican-leaners 65 or older supporting a Trump bid in January to 37% in support of one now), White voters with college degrees (from 31% backing Trump in January to 16% now) and those who describe themselves as very conservative (from 65% behind a Trump bid then to 42% now).
The proportion of Republican voters who say that Trump has had a good effect on the Republican Party has gone down. A third (33%) say he’s had a bad effect, and 15% that he hasn’t made much difference.
A random national sample of 1,208 adults were drawn from a probability-based panel for the CNN Poll. The surveys were conducted by phone or online. Results among the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.6 points; it is larger for subgroups.
Joe Biden and the Ex-President Donald J.C. Trump in the White House: What Happens When the Public Remains Cold and Dirty
Many voters are pining for a break from the past and present, even as the White House race is heating up between President Joe Biden and ex-president Trump.
Of course, it’s early. It is still a reminder that despite polls and pre-race predictions, many months before a race, most things don’t count.
Whether or not voters want it, the race is on. It is important that the strengths of the contender are considered early by potential rivals and funders in the early money chase. Biden is giving signs that he is planning on running in the new year, suggesting he may let the country know early next year, despite Trump being already an declared candidate.
Republican politics may, or may not, be at a moment of transition. How things shake out in the next few months will be critical to Trump’s prospects. On the one hand, more and more Republicans – prompted by the failure of many of the ex-president’s hand-picked candidates in the midterms – are saying it’s time to move on.
And Trump’s dinner with extremists with a record of antisemitism like White supremacist Nick Fuentes and rapper Kanye West at Mar-a-Lago is bolstering their arguments that his general election viability is damaged beyond repair. The lackluster campaign of Trump appears to make it easier for him to portray criminal probes into his conduct as persecution.
And yet, the former president’s allies, like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Jim Jordan of Ohio, will be hugely influential in the new GOP House majority. Paradoxically, the failure of Republicans to do better in November means that a thinner majority will be easier for extremists to manipulate as they seek to turn Republican control of half of the Capitol into a weapon to damage Biden and help Trump in 2024.
Another campaign will test whether there’s been any erosion in Trump’s base. But even if his mythical connection to those voters might not be enough to win him the presidency, it could still carry him to his third straight nomination. The refusal by most Republican legislators to repudiate Trump over his recent call to end the constitution is a sign that they are still under the influence of the ex-president. Kevin McCarthy has found ways not to condemn Trump over his associations with extremists in the hopes of winning the speaker’s gavel.
GOP hopefuls will see that 38% – the lowest point of three CNN polls on the topic this year – as an opening for an anti-Trump candidate. But another big field could splinter opposition to the ex-president among untested potential foes.
Still, any president is deeply vulnerable to unexpected outside events that could splinter his approval ratings and chances of reelection. And the oldest president in US history will have to confront the age issue every day. Republicans will seize on any slackening of the campaign trail pace, or even a cold, as proof he’s unfit for a second term. And while Biden appears healthy, the chances of an adverse event increase for people in their 80s.
Facing a dramatically narrowed path to passing legislation next year, the White House has started to zero in on potential openings that Republicans’ precariously slim, four-seat House majority may create.
The control and ideological makeup of the Republican-led House made it difficult to replicate some of the legislative wins of President Joe Biden’s first two years.
The basic tasks of a functioning government will become high-stakes standoffs. Spending battles will shift from arduous tight-rope walks to outright warfare. And the looming debt ceiling deadline next year and the potential for catastrophic debt default drew enough concern from White House officials that they weighed a push to address it in the current Congress to take it off the table entirely.
Getting Closer to the Core: Engaging the White House Legislative Affairs Team in Biden’s First Two-Year Campaign
Even if many conversations with Republicans are private and undisclosed, Biden still has a track record of engaging with Republicans during his time in office.
The preparations for the months ahead remain in the early stage, officials said. The central focus remains on closing out the final days of unified power in Washington, DC, by securing the passage of the annual defense policy bill and a sweeping bipartisan spending agreement that includes significant new funding to assist Ukraine’s war effort, as well as a bipartisan measure to close loopholes in the Electoral Count Act that brought the country to the brink on January 6, 2021.
McCarthy, after the meeting, told reporters he “can work with anyone,” but noted the new Republican majority clinched in the midterms signaled “America likes a check and balance.”
The uncertainty in Washington surrounding McCarthy’s path to the speakership has created another reason to wait and see.
Still, behind the scenes and driven by Biden’s mantra that all politics is personal, the White House’s legislative affairs team has begun doing deep dives on newly elected Republican lawmakers, compiling comprehensive profiles of their districts and the issues at the heart of their winning campaigns, according to a senior White House official. As they try to find pressure points and other areas of compromise, the White House wants to better understand the lawmakers and what makes them tick.
After two years of seeking out ways to connect Biden, a 36-year Senate veteran with a keen awareness of the importance of even the smallest of priorities back home for elected officials, to rank-and-file members from both parties, the effort will to some degree track and expand on what officials leaned on in their first two years.
But as officials confront a landscape that has closed the door on the Democrat-only legislative pathway that led to two of Biden’s most consequential legislative wins – the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan and his cornerstone $700 billion economic and climate law – those efforts take on a new level of salience.
“As I have throughout my career, I’m going to continue to work across the aisle to deliver for the American people. At his post-midterm election news conference, Biden said he did it the first term and was not always easy. “I’m prepared to work with my Republican colleagues. The American people have made it clear that they expect Republicans to work with me as well.
Outreach from the White House to the newly elected members is sure to follow the preparation currently under way. Each member of the White House’s legislative affairs team is charged with liaising with a list of individual members and at least one committee, a senior White House official said.
“We’re content to let them shoot at one another at the moment,” a senior administration official said. “We have a record and, driven by the president, very clear way in which we approach the importance of these relationships. That will certainly be reflected in the next Congress.”
Democrats are already eyeing those incoming lawmakers – four of whom represent districts in New York – as top targets for Democrats’ efforts to retake the House in 2024 and White House officials expect they will be under more pressure than other Republicans to reach bipartisan deals they can take back to their districts.
A pair of incoming New York Republicans, Reps.-elect Anthony D’Esposito and Michael Lawler, see an opportunity to work with the White House to pass legislation, though they have yet to hear from them.
In New York, D’ Esposito says they have been named majority makers. “And to be honest, if we want to maintain that majority, if we want to keep the seats that we flipped, then we have no choice but then to work in a bipartisan fashion to deliver.”
“When you have a small majority, everybody is empowered to a degree,” said Lawler, who defeated House Democrats’ campaign chief in suburban New York. The conference must make sure that they pass legislation that has the best chance of being signed into law by the White House.
A House Republican told CNN that he gets the attention of both the hard right group of House Republicans who hold significant sway inside the conference and the former president. I am not sure how the freshmen will use it, but we go nowhere without them.
Even if the White House can get enough Republicans to buck their party on some bills, the Speaker of the House holds the final say on what legislation comes up for a vote. The approach that House GOP leaders have taken is close to an unofficial idea that nothing should move forward if there isn’t a majority of the majority behind it.
A White House official refused to say whether the White House would focus on striking bipartisan agreements with Republican leadership or peel off moderate Republicans through the use of discharge petitions.
Even off-cycle years in American politics can make a difference in shaping the future of the country. There are 10 major political questions that will be critical to determining what will come in Washington, DC and beyond.
Biden may face a challenge from within his own party if the President chooses not to make a decision. If Biden runs, the odds of any major Democrat taking that step are very low. The names of some prominent Democrats, including the governor of Michigan and the secretary of transportation have been floated. Jimmy Carter faced problems when Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts took him on in 1980, because of a formidable candidate running in a primary.
It’s also possible that having control of the lower chamber could turn into a mixed blessing for the Democrats. Although Republicans will be able to stifle new initiatives from the White House, investigating people like Hunter Biden or bolloxing up the routine processes of governance, such as raising the debt ceiling, could help Democrats make the case that their opponents can’t handle the responsibilities of power.
The Supreme Court’s overturn of abortion rights was a huge factor in Democrats’ success. Many Democratic voters were energized to elect officials who would support the right of women to determine their own reproductive decisions. There are many big decisions that SCOTUS is currently deliberating, including how it will rule on a radical legal doctrine of “independent state legislative theory” – which would hand state legislative bodies power to overturn the results of an election – and a case involving Harvard University that could undercut affirmative action. These and other decisions can have a profound effect on the election process as well as on the motivation of voters from both parties going into November 2024.
The Russian war against Ukraine has already had huge ramifications in the United States. Inflation has many roots, but the cost of losing Russia’s oil supplies has been significant. There have been emerging partisan tensions within the US about how much support to provide Ukraine, while policymakers at the Department of Defense keep a close eye on Russia to see if desperation will drive it to, for example, attack a NATO country. There could be more thanUkraine to consider. We don’t know what is around the corner in international policy. A major crisis can change our national conversation.
Within a few days, the public health crisis can upend politics. Covid-19 made new issues to the top of the agenda, defining the litmus test by which our elected officials would be measured. Even though the virus continues to cause deaths and sickness, the recent impact of it has been lessened because of the successful vaccine program. And as we now see with the triple combination of Covid-19, the flu and RSV, we will not be out of the danger zone for a while. There is always the possibility that another pandemic will bring challenges into the political realm.
While the midterm elections posed a blow to most election deniers running for offices to oversee elections, election denialism remains a strong force in the GOP. And in certain states, there are individuals still ready to challenge results that don’t go their way. Red states are not relenting in their demands for voting restrictions. The January 6 committee report exposed just how vulnerable our democracy remains. Even with the passage of the Electoral Count Reform Act, there are many ways in which anti-democratic forces can exert influence in 2024. The ability of the democratic system to withstand these attacks will influence the results.
2023: Where the Millennial are Leading (and How Republicans can keep up): What Will The New Congress Tell Us About His Speech at the Capitol?
And of course, there are always the unexpected questions that await us. Any good list about what is to come must account for all the things that aren’t even being imagined right now. In December of 2019, there would only be a few predictive pieces.
But we can know this for certain: 2023 will be a big one, a political rollercoaster which will clarify the terms that will help determine the next president of the United States.
Just like he exceeded expectations during the 2020 primaries, Biden did it again with this 2023 State of the Union. We are not sure how the speech will change views across the country. His speech was strong and good for his campaign.
Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator Paul Begala served as a counselor to Clinton in the White House after he was hired as a political consultant.
But voters are used to politicians making these promises. The things that voters might not have heard in a State of the Union before are the things that make clips the next day.
Anderson is a Republican strategist and pollster who wrote “The Selfie Vote: Wheremillennial are leading America (and How Republicans can keep up)”.
A statement as basic as everyone should “pay your fair share of taxes,” and it’s wrong for corporations “making record profits while paying zero in taxes” was met with stone-faced looks from half the chamber, even when Biden pointed out that an oil and gas company paying 15% tax is less than what a nurse pays.
Joe Biden and the China Spy Balloon: Highlights and Lowlights During the Second Black-Hole Collider Roundup
President Joe Biden’s discussion of “the talk” that Black parents give to their children about how to safely interact with police officers was the most moving part of his speech.
He got down the most relatable aspects of policy — that when families who feel pinched in the pocketbook can finally afford a vacation, we get hit with resort fees at places that “aren’t even a resort” and airlines force parents to pay to be seated with their children.
The narrative of Biden is that government is a force for good. Biden took the idea of democracy, the possibility of what good it can do in our lives and made it concrete again. Too bad this current Congress is operating in an alternate reality.
But for middle-of-the-road voters, neither the southern border nor inflation received much attention from the President — despite both issues being of importance to voters. The Chinese spy balloon, which was on its way to the US, did not affect Biden’s talk towards the Chinese President.
It is hard to think of a better performance by Joe Biden tonight. He had good humor and was full of energy as he marshaled his arguments. By the end of the evening, he looked like a boxer who can’t wait to get into the ring again.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/opinions/highlights-lowlights-biden-sotu-roundup/index.html
The Night Before Election Day: Did Geoff Biden Really Box the Nut: The Story of the January 6th, 2020 Election, and How to Stop Hitting the Ness
Geoff Duncan, a CNN political contributor, served as Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor from 2019-2023. He is a former professional baseball player and the author of “GOP 2.0: How the 2020 Election Can Lead to a Better Way Forward for America’s Conservative Party.”
In one exchange, Biden even called out Republican members who celebrated funding for their constituents in the very infrastructure bill they voted against. Biden was fearless as he masterfully boxed Republicans into publicly opposing cuts to Social Security and Medicare, nor did he shrink from naming the horror of January 6 and the vicious consequences of the 2020 election lie and divisive political rhetoric.
Karen has been working in political, media and cultural change for 25 years. Her career includes roles as top Democratic communications strategist and spokesperson, political commentator, television and radio show host, White House staffer, business and communications adviser, leader and advocate for social justice and civil rights.
But he now faces an even sterner test: Did he actually move the needle? This public appearance could shake up politics, and it was among the presidents of recent past. Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan both had the power to change minds when they held a microphone.
Perhaps Biden began getting through to prospective voters, persuading them to join his reelection campaign. If so, Democratic strategists will become much more confident about his prospects for reelection. But if he doesn’t pick up steam after a night like this, they may wander off the reservation.
On the First State of the Union: David Gergen, a White House Adviser, and the Former US Senator David J. Jones
David Gergen has been a White House adviser to four presidents of both parties and is a senior political analyst at CNN. A graduate of Harvard Law School, he is a professor of public service at the Harvard Kennedy School and co-founded its Center for Public Leadership.
The George Floyd Policing Act was called upon by Biden to be passed after a Memphis man died after being beaten by police.
Jones was a CNN political commentator and was in the New York Congressional district. He’s a member of the US Commission on Civil Rights.
The trick is in standing up for what you think is right. This was the first State of the Union since the Supreme Court stripped a fundamental right from American women in overturning Roe v. Wade. Even though abortion isn’t a big deal for women, the right to decide when and whether to have children is just as significant as outsourcing jobs or federal contracts.
Some members of the Republican caucus were keen to point out the differences between Biden and their party. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, among others, repeatedly booed and yelled throughout the speech; when he introduced the parents of Tyre Nichols, who was last month fatally beaten by Memphis police officers, and the Ukrainian ambassador, she stayed seated. That may say more about Biden than he ever could.
Jill Filipovic: How My Generation Got Left Behind After the Monterey Park Insight into the War on Drugs and Crime, and the Crisis in the House of Representatives
Jill Filipovic is a journalist based in New York and author of the book “OK Boomer, Let’s Talk: How My Generation Got Left Behind.” Follow her on Twitter @JillFilipovic.
A mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, last month that killed 11 people is still hard for me to believe. So it was incredibly moving when the president thanked Brandon Tsay for his heroism disarming the suspected gunman in the attack. It reminded us of the need for gun reform and gave us a chance to recognize a brave American.
McCarthy, who took 15 rounds to win his speakership because of far-right rejection, could be easily seen shushing his conference at least three times. Biden and Democrats wanted to show off the look of their candidate to the largest tv audience the president would speak to this year.
The GOP response came on the heels of Republicans in the House chamber shouting their frustration with Biden’s comments on the border crisis, Social Security and Medicare cuts and the threat from China.
Ashley Allison is the CEO of Turner Conoly Group and a consultant for Planned Parenthood Action Fund. She is a former senior adviser to former President Barack Obama and senior aide to the Biden-Harris campaign.
Taking Back the Bounce of U.S. Immigration Laws: Why Biden’s Failure to “Defend our Border, Protect Our Sky and Protect Our People is Perilous”
This is consistent with how the President has thought about the way of unity over the last two years. A creature of the Senate, Biden’s approach has focused on passing popular legislation most Americans will understand and appreciate, while drawing attention — and political energy — away from the divisive identity politics and culture wars that fueled the rise of Donald Trump.
But it has done little to actually unify the country. A recent survey shows Americans are just as divided as they were prior to the elections, and a majority of people think there will be no partisan fights in the Congress next two years.
Justin Gest is an associate professor at George Mason University’s Schar School of Policy and Government. He is the author of six books on the politics of immigration and demographic change including, most recently, “Majority Minority.”
A former producer and correspondent for CNN, Ghitis is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN and also a columnist for The Washington Post and World Politics Review.
Huckabee said that it’s time for a new generation of Republican leadership.
The youngest governor in the country is 40 years old. She said Biden is simply notfit to serve as commander in chief because he is 80 years old.
It’s a tough line to walk, but it’s one Biden has continuously tried to. Huckabee said that Biden was being taken over by a “woke mob”.
Like it or not, Sanders spoke for many Republicans who believe that despite Biden’s claim that the State of the Union is great, his failure to “defend our border, defend our skies and defend our people,” puts the State of our Union in peril.
Biden and Walsh at the State of the Union Address on Economic and Tax Reform in the United States, Addressing a Catastrophic Capitol Disaster
Absent from the chamber, though, was Marty Walsh, the labor secretary who was chosen to stay away as a designated survivor in case of a catastrophe at the Capitol and is reported to be stepping down soon.
In his speech, Mr. Biden called on Congress to extend a new $35 price cap on insulin for Medicare beneficiaries to all Americans; to make premium savings on Affordable Care Act health plans permanent; to impose a minimum tax on billionaires; and to quadruple the tax on corporate stock buybacks.
In his State of the Union address, the President boasted the progress he had made in economic and legislative policy, which was likely to be his unofficial pitch for reelection.
He said there are so many more things to be done, such as codifying abortion rights and capping the price ofinsulin at $35 a month.
The State of the Union address will likely be Biden’s largest television audience of the year and he used it to draw a contrast with Republicans on a number of issues.
“Let’s commit here tonight that the full faith and credit of the United States of America will never ever be questioned,” the president said, repeating his call for Congress to raise the debt ceiling with no preconditions.
“So, folks, as we all apparently agree, social security and Medicare is off the books now,” Biden said, after a feisty exchange with some Republicans in the audience. “We got unanimity” he said with glee.
“What happened to Tyre in Memphis happens too often, we have to do better” Biden said, nodding to Tyre’s mother and stepfather, who were in the chamber as special guests.
And he pointed out that he’s helped usher in a historic amount of legislation – including 300 bipartisan laws around issues such as improving infrastructure, boosting domestic semiconductor manufacturing, and improving veterans benefits.
He said that they had funded 20,000 projects, including major airports from Boston to Atlanta to Portland. “And folks, we’re just getting started.”
An Underdog Story about the Prevalence of Right and Left, and the Future of Social Security and Medicare: A Conversation with Biden, the New Congress, and his Opponents
He also reiterated his optimism in finding issues where members of both parties could find common ground, such as supporting veterans, ending cancer, and beating the opioid epidemic.
If we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason that we can’t do the same in this one.
And he showed a clear contrast between himself and right-wing House Republicans, who couldn’t help themselves, hectoring Biden repeatedly despite newly minted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy explicitly instructing them beforehand not to do so.
The president didn’t call for a whole lot of new policy initiatives from the new Congress — beyond, for example, ending what he called “junk fees” in travel, entertainment and credit cards. It showed he’s gearing up for campaign mode and that he’s likely going to campaign on what he’s already done by drawing a big-picture distinction between his vision for America and Republicans’.
Some of what is likely to make Democrats comfortable is the pluck he showed — the willingness and ability to spar with Republicans and depict them not as normal, but extreme.
The best example of this was on Medicare and Social Security. He deftly riled up House Republicans, accusing some of wanting to cut the popular entitlements. He was careful in that section to note that “some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset every five years.”
That was something Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., the former National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman, opened the door to with his “Rescue America Plan.” Democrats have run with it, even though McCarthy has said cuts to Medicare and Social Security are “off the table.” Biden’s accusation enraged House Republicans, who saw the charge as false and too far.
The exchange took the lid off the comity that happened earlier in the evening. Republicans heckled and accused Biden of being a liar, as well as yelling out, “It’s your fault!” When Biden decried the death of Fentanyl.
Americans love an underdog story, especially when mixed with a dose of nationalism. That’s especially true today with right- and left-wing populism clearly the hot ticket in politics. Both Biden and Donald Trump share the same core beliefs about populism, which is about the little guy versus the people in power. They’re modern-day Howard Beales, mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.
Big pharma, billionaires, and corporate stock buybacks were all targeted by Biden.
It was a heavy dose of populism with policies that are popular. All construction materials used in federal infrastructure projects will be made in the United States, he said.
The State of the Union: The Rise and Fall of the Social Security Net, said Biden in a United-State Address on Tuesday
“I will make no apologies that we are investing to make America strong,” Biden said. “Investing in American innovation, in industries that will define the future, and that China’s government is intent on dominating.”
There was about 200 words in the speech dedicated to what’s become one of America’s top security threats.
Biden mentioned the presence of the Ukrainian ambassador in the US and said the U.S. had done something for the country during its war with Russia.
But beyond that, there wasn’t much on either country. That clearly shows Biden’s reelection campaign is going to be focused on domestic, bread-and-butter issues.
After years of Democrat attacks on law enforcement, violent criminals are free to roam, and law-abiding families live in fear.
Biden told a group of union workers that he had reported on the State of the Union and it was strong.
The social safety net argument with Republicans that sparked one of the most memorable moments in Tuesday’s speech was revived by Biden as he hit the road, who made clear that he was willing to continue the fight. The argument highlighted Biden’s attempt to shift his message away from the talking points that will be part of the election in two years.
“There’s a senator named Mike Lee who was also yelling, ‘Liar, liar, house on fire’ kind of stuff last night. What about… They played last night, something I didn’t even know existed, a video of him saying, ‘I’m here right now to tell you one thing you’ve probably never heard from a politician: It’ll be my objective to phase out Social Security,’” he said.
An Observational Test of the Cascades of Democracy: Joe Biden at the House of Representatives after his ‘Maga’ Speech
PBS NewsHour asked Biden if he expected the kind of reaction he got in the House chamber after his speech near Madison.
Biden said that he was from the people that did it. “The vast of majority of Republicans weren’t that way, but you know, there’s still a significant element of what I call the ‘MAGA Republicans.’”
He was skeptical about last night’s “conversion” of some Republicans. I will believe it when I see their budget with the cuts they are proposing. But looks like we negotiated a deal last night on the floor of the House of Representatives.”
People said fighting for the sake of fighting gets us nowhere. We’re getting things done,” he said, before going on to draw clear arguments against his Republican colleagues.
He called on Congress to raise the debt limit, again warning against the chaos that is happening.
Biden also fired back at a television commentator he heard aboard Air Force One lamenting his focus on junk fees: “Junk fees may not matter to the wealthy people, but they matter of most folks like the home I grew up in. They add a large amount of money to make it harder to pay your bills or take a family trip. I know how unfair it can be when a company overcharges you.
Democrat Lobbyists and Democrats: Getting the President’s attention before they get their feet in politics a la the House Republican Caucus
An adviser to Mr. Biden believes that the scrimmage between the president and House Republicans on Tuesday night will give Americans a clearer idea of what the president is talking about.
“Clearly, having the House Republican caucus behaving the way they are, and are signaling strongly they will continue to behave, is going to give the president an easy contrast,” she said. “What the House Republican caucus is doing for him is giving him a way to draw a contrast between what he is for — what he’s trying to get done, and who he’s trying to get it done for — with the House Republicans.”
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But Republicans so far have not said how they propose to reduce spending by a large enough amount to achieve their debt reduction goals. And there have been several notable Republicans who have proposed ideas like making all laws expire after five years unless lawmakers renew them — an idea that Mr. Biden says means Social Security and Medicare would go away automatically if such a vote failed.
