Biden plays “truth” or “defection” with the GOP
Joe Biden in the State of the Union and the Status of the Post-World War II: The Struggle for a Better Future
It is impossible to ignore the preview of the reelection campaign of President Joe Biden in the State of the Union speech. If this looks at the past two years, then it’s apparent that Biden is in a good position to succeed in that quest.
Biden emphasized both his administration’s pocketbook accomplishments and his agenda for shoring up the middle class. Biden sang the song of the White working class man, from gas prices to keeping jobs in America.
But the shushing — a motion McCarthy repeated several times over the course of the speech — was also symbolic of his troubled road ahead as speaker. Will he continue to try to intimidate the extremists in his party as they try to stop his agenda or will he be able to work with Biden at times?
Paul Begala was a political consultant for Bill Clinton when he was president, as well as a counselor to Clinton in the White House.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/opinions/highlights-lowlights-biden-sotu-roundup/index.html
The Truth About the 2020 Election: When President Biden talked about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid During his January 6 Attack on the Capitol
Here’s the reality about the State of the Union these days: Most Americans are not watching. Most big political speeches say things people have heard over and over again. More taxes on the richest Americans, the importance of infrastructure, raising teacher pay, lowing health care costs — all stances that poll relatively well.
Biden said that some Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, “seemed shocked” when he highlighted their colleagues’ efforts to cut those social safety net programs, holding up a “brochure” with Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott’s plan to require all federal legislation – including Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – to be authorized every five years. He referenced quotes on the matter from Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, who received boos and hisses, and Utah GOP Sen. Mike Lee.
Kristen Soltis Anderson, a CNN political commentator, is a Republican strategist and pollster and author of “The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America (and How Republicans Can Keep Up).”
Rather than reverting to a pre-Civil Rights era, Biden reflected the idea of losing pride in America on his mind, rather than grabbing the message of the MAGA movement. He adopted the language calling the attack on the Capitol an insurrection, referring to January 6 as the day “our democracy faced its greatest threat since the Civil War.” But many members in the audience still support the lie that the 2020 election was stolen and are part of that threat to democracy.
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.
Democrats were unable to pass a comprehensive police reform bill after two years of control of the executive and legislative branches of government. The GOP opposition to the George Floyd justice in policing Act is characteristic of that. If Congress fails to pass meaningful policing reform this term, it is important for Biden to remind people he is still trying. The voters who supported him last time will want to know that this issue is still uppermost in the president’s mind.
Joe Biden – a tough talker and a boxer who can’t wait to get into the ring again: The case for a better Congress
The most important aspect of policy was that he said that families who can finally afford a vacation are hit with resort fees at places that aren’t even a resort and airlines force parents to pay to be seated.
It is part of the narrative of Biden that government is a force for good. The idea of democracy was taken by Biden and he made it concrete again. It’s too bad the current Congress operates in an alternate reality.
Despite the importance of the southern border and inflation to voters, neither of them received much attention from the President. Neither did the Chinese spy balloon, whose coast-to-coast journey undermines Biden’s tough talk toward Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Biden did not offer a lot in the way of bipartisan agreements going forward, which is a requirement to pass a divided Congress.
It is hard to think of a better performance by Joe Biden tonight. He was feisty, full of energy, marshaled his arguments effectively and even batted back Republican catcalls with good humor. 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
Did he really move the needle? An examination of Biden and Finney in his first two years as a U.S. Senator
Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor was a CNN political contributor. He is also the author of “GOP 2.0: The 2020 election can lead to a better way forward for America’s Conservative Party.”
Biden tried to make a bigger point for working together with GOP lawmakers by lauding his first two years in office.
Karen Finney has worked at the intersection of politics, media and cultural change for over 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.
He now has to perform an even harsher exam: Did he actually move the needle? Among presidents of the recent past, a public appearance as powerful as this one could shake up politics. After holding a microphone, former Presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton would change their minds.
When Biden’s presidency wasn’t going well, it was easy to understand why he was mired deep in the polls. But he has had a string of successes in recent months, and yet his approval rating is still stuck in the low 40s. One can only imagine the frustration he has felt.
Perhaps Biden, on Tuesday, began getting through to prospective or wavering voters, persuading some — maybe even many — of them to join up for his reelection campaign. Democrats will be more confident about his reelection prospects if they are correct. But if he doesn’t pick up steam after a night like this, they may wander off the reservation.
David Gergen, the Alabama Senator, and Tyre Nichols: A State of the Union for the Rights of Black Americans and the Nigerian Ambassador
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.
Still, it was political malpractice for him not to explicitly call for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. The family of Tyre Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who was fatally beaten by Memphis police officers last month, deserved to hear it.
Mondaire Jones is a CNN political commentator and former Representative for New York’s 17th Congressional District. He also serves as a member of the US Commission on Civil Rights.
The trick, though, comes in standing up for what’s right even while speaking to the masses. There was a State of the Union after the Supreme Court decided that American women did not have a fundamental right to abortion. But abortion didn’t merit a mention until well into the speech — despite the fact that, for women, the right to decide when and whether to have children is as fundamental a concern as outsourced jobs or federal contracts.
And some members of the Republican caucus seemed keen to highlight the distinctions between the thoughtful, unity-emphasizing Biden and their own party’s shameful descent. 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 perhaps says more than Biden ever could.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/opinions/highlights-lowlights-biden-sotu-roundup/index.html
Biden, the Mayor, and the People: The President’s Paradoxes, His Promises, and his Promise to Seize the Border
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 social media.
It’s still hard for me to believe that my hometown of Monterey Park experienced a mass shooting that took the lives of 11 people. The president praised the man who disarmed the suspected shooter when he thanked Brandon Tsay. It was a poignant reminder of our continuing need for gun reform – as well as deserved recognition of a brave American.
On immigration, the president urged his fellow lawmakers to “come together… and make it a bipartisan issue like it was before.” He cited his administration’s new efforts at the border yet noted that immigration problems won’t be fixed until Congress acts. The president can only make temporary fixes to the immigration system. It’s interesting that this common-sense section of his speech generated heckling in the House with some members chanting, “Secure the border.” This illustrates the president’s dilemma: Like many Americans, he supports reasonable immigration reform. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are fixated on generating chaos and division around the issue.
The most notable moment of the night was when the Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy shushed his conference as they yelled “secure the border!” It was a glorious act of leadership by a man who has aligned himself with Donald Trump, who voted against the 2020 election results and packed the House Oversight committee with election deniers.
Whether you like it or not, this speech made it clear that Biden is running for a second term. He seems ready to fight for the American people and for every vote.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/opinions/highlights-lowlights-biden-sotu-roundup/index.html
The Next Two Years: Where Are We Going? A View from the Perspective of Biden-Harris and other Ubiquitous Presidential Campaigns
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.
President Joe Biden devoted the end of this year’s speech to his plans to end cancer, support veterans, address mental health and combat the opiate epidemic after he first announced it in his State of the Union address.
But it has done little to actually unify the country. A majority of Americans think the next two years will be just as boring as the last one, according to recent polls.
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 immigration and demographic change, the most recent being “Majority Minority.”
Frida Ghitis, (@fridaghitis) a former CNN producer and correspondent, is a world affairs columnist. She is a weekly opinion contributor to CNN, a contributing columnist to The Washington Post and a columnist for World Politics Review.
“It’s time for a new generation of Republican leadership,” she said, touting her record so far as governor of Arkansas: banning critical race theory, repealing COVID-19 orders and preventing state legislation from using terms like “Latinx.”
Sarah Huckabee Sanders: Bringing stability to the American people after the Biden defeating the Democratic candidate Donald J. Biden
The youngest governor in the country is 40 years old. At 80 years old, Biden is simply “unfit to serve as commander in chief”, she said.
Biden focused his speech on his administration’s accomplishments on unemployment numbers, record new jobs and lower prescription drug prices. But the reality is that just because he says things are better, doesn’t make it so. American people are in pain.
As expected, Sanders took the opportunity to go after Biden and the left’s radical agenda that doesn’t meet the hard realities Americans face every day. She stated Biden is “surrender[ing] his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is.”
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.
Arkansas’ newly elected governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, delivered the Republican Party’s response to President Biden’s State of the Union address, telling Americans: “Biden and the Democrats have failed you.”
“The dividing line in America is no longer between right and left — it’s between normal or crazy,” Sanders said in her rebuttal to President Biden’s State of the Union address.
And she drew contrasts between her and Biden, pointing out that the president is the oldest to serve in American history, while she is one of the youngest governors in the country.
She held up former President Donald Trump’s achievements as bringing “stability” to America before saying the Democrats “destroyed” that record. The White House had a press secretary in the administration.
She ended her remarks by describing in great detail a trip she took with former Trump to Iraq, which, in her telling, represented the grand reverence that Americans should have for their country.
A Preview of the ‘Maga Republicans’: Cutting Social Security and Medicare, and Exposing the Land’s Debt Problem to a Television Commentator
President Biden made his populist economic message known to Wisconsin in a preview of his expected argument with the GOP in the battleground state in four years.
“Look – a lot of Republicans, their dream is to cut Social Security and Medicare. He said that it was a dream but he would have a veto pen and make it a nightmare.
“There’s a senator named Mike Lee who was also yelling, ‘Liar, liar, house on fire’ kind of stuff last night. … 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.
Shortly after Biden’s remarks near Madison, PBS NewsHour’s Judy Woodruff asked him if he was expecting the kind of reaction he got in the House chamber.
Biden said he was from the folks 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.’”
I hope that is true for last night’s conversion of some Republicans, he offered skepticism during his speech. I will be convinced when I see their budget and see the proposed cuts. We were able to make a deal on the floor of the House of Representatives.
People said that fighting for the sake of fighting gets us nowhere. He said we were getting things done and then proceeded to argue against his Republican colleagues.
And he again called on Congress to raise the nation’s debt limit during his earlier remarks, warning against the “chaos” he said Republicans are “suggesting.”
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. The extra money makes it more difficult to pay your bills or afford a family trip. I am sure that it feels unjust to be overcharged when a company claims they can get away with it.
Democrat Rebuttals Differered in More Than Just Language: Sensitivities to the Problem of Culture War against Left-Right Sympathy
Arkansas governor Sarah Huckabee sanders went straight for criticism of her left-wing opponent, which included “indoctrinated” children and “woke” culture on Americans, but an Arizona congressman took a more diplomatic approach.
Brendan Steinhauser is a political strategist in Texas, and said that the splits on topics, rhetoric and style were designed to appeal to different audiences.
Those are the issues that swing voters who are Hispanic care about, he said. They are looking for someone to focus on bread-and- butter pocketbook issues rather than the cultural war things. You’re trying to cobble together a coalition to win a national election.
The speech was more optimistic, hopeful, uplifting and personal with a focus on policy, which could appeal to a wider crowd of independents, swing voters, moderate Republicans and business Republicans.
“They’re both very compelling, but for totally different reasons,” Steinhauser said. She would have been put in more of a category of traditional Republicans if she’d given that speech. It’s not a bad thing, but I think that what the base wants right now, as they’re looking for leaders in the party — they definitely want someone that’s going to fight this culture war.”
The state of the union is strong because the souls of the nation are strong and the people of the nation are strong, he said.
Ciscomani similarly ended on a note of optimism and bipartisanship: “Let’s put aside our differences and focus on results to keep this dream alive for future generations. Our people are strong and that means the state of our union is strong. We can overcome anything. Our best days are yet to come.
America is great because we are free. Our freedom is being attacked and America is in danger. President Biden and the Democrats have failed you. She said that it was time for a change.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1155593860/republican-state-of-the-union-rebuttals-differed-in-more-than-just-language
“It’s a good idea to draw the Latino population out of divisibility”: Ciscomani’s view of the Arizona congressional race
Ciscomani’s state of Arizona and elsewhere will soon become political hotbeds as parties look to win over various voting bases, including Spanish-speaking voters. And each party will begin crafting the talking points to get those moderate, swing voters and voters of color that have proven vital in deciding some election results across the country.
“I don’t think Sarah Huckabee’s was bad, I just wish the Republican Party would use people like Juan more often to appeal toLatinos, and maybe even write off the Hispanic demographic as democrat,” Molera said.
Hispanic voters have begun trending Republican in recent elections, especially in Florida and Texas. But in states like Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, Hispanic voters still tended to lean toward Democratic candidates.
“I think that people who ran for the US Senate and the Governor’s races in Arizona did that divisiveness, and they didn’t even try to appeal to the Latino-identifying voters,” he said. “I think that’s something that could be hugely beneficial to Republicans, especially if we want to win anything again in Arizona.”
