Biden's triumph: His SOTU receives bipartisan praise; meanwhile, even Republicans call the response of Alabama's Katie Britt "one of our biggest disasters"

Biden comes out punching (AP)

 

Comparing him to a boxer, Axios joined the chorus of praise for President Joe Biden's State of the Union address last night, stating Biden "helped ease Democrats' concerns about his age with a feisty and commanding (SOTU) address." The speech even received high marks from some conservative commentators. (see here and here). In short, Biden's speech was a triumph, despite the childish, fact-challenged, lightweight, and "bizarre" response from U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL).

Britt, essentially was a go-fer girl for former U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) until Alabama voters inexplicably picked her to occupy Shelby's seat. Even members of her own party were turned off by her school-girlish voice, and shallow content -- all delivered with an expression that ranged from vacant to almost tearful. Some Republicans called her speech "one of our biggest disasters."  Meanwhile, there was speculation, apparently sparked by a comment from CNN's Kaitlan Collins,  that Britt was on Donald Trump's "short list" for a running mate. The notion of Katie Britt as vice president is laughable, but I'm a never-Trumper, so I hope he chooses her. Britt would make Sarah Palin look like Winston Churchill.

Katie Britt: An SOTU 'disaster"

 As for Biden's address, Axios reporters Alex Thompson and Hans Nichols write:

With anger, humor and frequent ad-libs that baited his Republican critics, Biden, 81, tried to show voters he's capable of serving another four-year term at a time when polls show voters don't think he is.

"Hard for anyone at any age to give that performance," former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said on CNN.

• "Nobody is going to talk about cognitive impairment now," cameras caught Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) telling Biden after the speech.

Peggy Noonan — a former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan who doesn't like former President Trump — writes in her Wall Street Journal column that Biden's SOTU "showed energy and focus, blurred some words and thoughts, maintained a brisk pace"

"He almost never spoke softly. He sometimes yelled. There was a give-'em-hell-Harry vibration, as if he'd been reading up on Truman."

The Axios reporters came away with four key takeaways:

1. Came ready to fight.

• Biden's speech became raucous as he repeatedly looked to engage with GOP lawmakers.
• Without ever saying Trump's name, Biden repeatedly attacked "my predecessor" (a phrase he used 13 times) on everything from Ukraine to immigration, abortion and democracy.
• Biden drew attention to Trump's age — 77 — by saying, "Some other people my age" have a darker view of America.

2. Spread the blame on immigration

• After embracing restrictive immigration policies — including some he campaigned against in 2020 — in a failed bipartisan Senate deal, Biden tried to portray Republicans as responsible for the ongoing problems.
• "We can fight about fixing the border, or we can fix it," he said.
• One misstep: Biden infuriated some Democrats in an ad-libbed moment by using language they find degrading. He called the alleged killer of Laken Riley, a Georgia nursing student, "an illegal." (Former Speaker Pelosi said on CNN that Biden "should have said 'undocumented.'") And he called the student "Lincoln" instead of Laken.

3. Calls voters to back abortion rights.

• "Those bragging about overturning Roe v. Wade have no clue about the power of women in America," he said. "But they found out when reproductive freedom was on the ballot, and we won in 2022, 2023, and they will find out again in 2024."

4. Gambled on the economy.

• Biden continued to argue that his economic record is better than voters give him credit for — a tactic some Democrats worry is tone-deaf, noting polls that indicate most Americans don't agree.
• Biden went further than in the past, predicting that inflation will continue to decline without an increase in unemployment. "The landing is and will be soft," he promised, a line that wasn't in his prepared remarks.
• He cited familiar numbers about record-low unemployment, especially for Black and Hispanic Americans. He repeated his plans to increase corporate tax rates from 21% to 28%.
• But in his victory lap, Biden acknowledged that many Americans aren't satisfied, especially when it comes to housing. He unveiled a plan for a two-year tax credit of $400 a month, geared to first-time homebuyers, to help take the sting out of high mortgage rates.
  

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