President Joe Biden’s yearly State of the Union speech – his first in front of a divided Congress – will offer the best glimpse to date of his argument for another term, making Tuesday’s address a test run of sorts as he approaches a reelection announcement.
In both substance and delivery, Biden hopes to present a vigorous and optimistic portrait to the American people of his first two years in office, reminding them of his accomplishments while also demonstrating to his largest television audience of the year that he has the ability to keep serving the country until he is 86 years old.
He is certain to tick through efforts to curb inflation, improve the nation’s infrastructure and steer the country through the Covid-19 pandemic. And he’s planning to address this weekend’s shoot-down of a suspected Chinese spy balloon, part of a larger section about outcompeting Beijing that aides have been editing and refining in the days before the speech.
The speech is the culmination of a writing process under way since late last year, subject to constant edits, tweaks and additions to reflect the real-time nature of the job and issues that have captured the nation’s attention.
That includes a fresh push for urgency on long-stalled police reform after the visceral nature of videos depicting the beating death in Memphis of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police. A two-hour-long Oval Office meeting with key members of the Congressional Black Caucus last week helped shape Biden’s views and led to a new round of edits.
So, too, has the push for an assault weapons ban been made more pressing after countless mass shootings in recent months. And new evidence of an economy that continues to defy critics and economists alike has helped shape Biden’s economic message.
Yet at its core, the broad pillars of Biden’s annual address will remain as they were…
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