Biden’s State of the Union should focus on border and economy

The State of the Union Address: Biden Gets What You Want, Not What You Wanna Know, Not Now You’re Afraid

The President will deliver his State of the Union Address on Thursday night, which will be one of the biggest TV audiences that he will have all year, and he will make his case for a second term in office.

The speech comes at the end of a week where former President Donald Trump became the last remaining major candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for November’s election. Polls currently show the race between Biden and Trump will be tight. This speech will allow Biden to contrast himself with Trump on issues where he believes he can get Democrats and Republicans to vote for him.

Biden is expected to urge Congress to restore protections for reproductive rights, and to pass a Senate compromise on border security that would give him authority to turn back more migrants seeking asylum. The measures are unlikely to pass a divided Congress.

“It is one thing to sort of say, ‘I am the person who is fighting for you’ — but if you appear as though you don’t have a lot of fight in you, that’s not particularly compelling to people who want that,” Peri said.

This is sacrilegious for a speechwriter to say but it’s actually not what he said but what he says in the way he puts it together.

“Some Republicans want Medicare and Social Security to sunset,” Biden said, prompting a cacophony of boos from Republicans. Biden kept the back and forth going, negotiating in real time. The moment began to quiet Biden’s critics and soothed nervous supporters.

After that spontaneous moment in last year’s speech, questions about Biden’s political plans quieted down and the Democratic establishment quickly fell in line behind the incumbent president.

“I think for those of us who see the president often working off a teleprompter, it was a reaffirming moment that the president’s still got it,” said Faiz Shakir, who managed the 2020 Bernie Sanders presidential campaign. He’s got his wits, he’s got his humor, and he’s got his fight.

He said the speech worked on two levels: Biden was standing up for popular programs, and taking the fight directly to his Republican antagonists in Congress.

Democrats think voter concerns about being too old for another term are exaggerated, but that’s not the point. She tells the president to joke it off and just acknowledge the age issue and move on. Everyone knows his birthday.

As part of an effort to push back against that assessment, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre again cited that moment in the House chamber. “I mean, we saw it at the last State of the Union,” Jean-Pierre told reporters. He was able to negotiate despite giving a very important speech.

With so much attention in recent weeks to Biden’s age, his ability to perform and his occasional mix-up with foreign leaders’ names, it increases the stakes for this speech and lowers expectations for him.

And he’ll draw contrasts with Republicans on economic policy, protecting democracy and reproductive rights — a day after former President Donald Trump became the presumptive Republican nominee in the race.

“Really now we are at the start of 2024, and it’s the opportunity for President Biden to really lay out, ‘Here’s what this election is about,'” said Karen Finney, a Democratic political consultant. Here’s what my presidency has been about, what’s at stake, what I’m fighting for.

There will be updates on the war in Gaza, an effort to harangue House Republicans into voting for Ukraine aid, and talk about finishing the job on a long list of domestic priorities.

Titus, a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, says she expects foreign policy to be a key part of the speech, and wants to hear strong support for Ukraine. She writes that the president and his administration want a cease-fire and that they are putting more pressure on Israeli officials to address humanitarian issues. But she concedes it’s hard to put a hard date on a cease-fire when “you’re not the main two at the negotiating table” in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.

He told NPR he was proud to be the first swing district Democrat to speak out against the war in Mideast, and that he believes the president should similarly speak out against it. The right thing to do is to make sure that no more civilian bloodshed is incurred at the expense of American taxpayer dollars.”

He said gas prices are down, but other items are not. “I’m a farmer. Farm equipment is really expensive at the moment. If he brought up some ideas on what he’s going to do in housing, child care, and worker training, that would be great.

I want to hear about the administration’s plan for reducing costs. There’s more we can do, but we did the inflation reduction act.

The most important incumbent running for reelection in deep red Montana, Sen. Jon Tester, is urging more action on the economy.

He would like Biden to speak to voters who are not getting a lot from the economy. Their paychecks aren’t large enough, they’re one medical emergency from filing for bankruptcy, and they want some relief with the rising cost of groceries, utilities and everything else, which is the main issue I hear about.”

While many Democrats that NPR talked to say the border is certainly a leading issue, they are especially focused on the need for Biden to lay out how he’s turned around the economy, but is also focused on following through on more policies that will hit people’s pocketbooks.

Sen. Gary Peters, who runs the Senate Democrats’ campaign arm, says he expects the president to talk about his role shaping the Senate border deal. “I think the president has to be very clear. We are on the side of finding a solution. Republicans have only been throwing rocks and have no interest in coming up with a solution.

Freshman Gabe Vasquez represents a district in southern New Mexico, and is frustrated that House Republicans blocked a bipartisan Senate bill to address the U-S Mexico border. He has some bipartisan proposals of his own, and said, “the president needs to take a stronger and a much stronger leadership role in this conversation nationally.”

“They’re starting to realize the economy isn’t as bad as it used to be, so there’s a there’s a new villain to talk about.” He expects the president to talk about his recent trip to the southwest border.

“He needs to make sure he gets his Irish up the way he did last year.” He pushed back at the president’s handlers who want to keep him on message and said they shouldn’t be worried about any gaffes. “The gaffes are already baked into his numbers, and they have been for decades.”

Last year Biden energized Democrats by getting into a back and forth with Republicans about protecting Social Security. Democrat Matt Cartwright, who represents the area where Biden grew up, hopes he will go off script again.

Don’t talk about infrastructure. Talk about the street in my district,” she said. Titus represents a purple Nevada seat and wants the president to remind people that the economy is doing better because of his policies. Las Vegas is the fastest recovering place in the country and was the hardest hit. We have to remind people that we’re working. You’ve got health care. We are getting the speed train to California.

They want him to showcase the progress he’s made in the first term and explain how he’ll build on it over the next five years, when millions will be watching.

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