Biden’s 2020 speech: Highlights, accomplishments, and a win-win proposition for the presidential candidate and CNN’s Paul Begala
It was like he exceeded expectations again, just like he did during the 2020 primaries. We will see after a few days if the speech changed opinions across the country. The speech was strong and could be a good sign for his campaign.
Biden emphasized both his administration’s pocketbook accomplishments and his agenda for shoring up the middle class. Biden sang a song for the White working class man that deals with gas prices and keeping working class jobs in America.
McCarthy will be faced with an impossible choice: either give Biden a popular accomplishment to run on or give him an appealing issue to run on. It is a win-win proposition for Biden.
Paul Begala, a Democratic strategist and CNN political commentator, was a political consultant for Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign in 1992 and served 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
How Republicans Can Keep Up: What They Did Not Tell Us Before the Biden Address on January 6, 2020, and What They Can Don’t Tell Us About America
But voters are used to politicians making these promises. What will stand out most, then, are the things that voters may not have heard in a State of the Union before, the things that make clips the next day.
The Republicans heckled Biden repeatedly during his State of the Union address, ignoring theshushes from House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Republicans in the House chamber protested Biden’s approach to many issues, including immigration, Social Security spending and the debt ceiling, in the moments after the address.
Republican strategist and pollster, author and CNN political commentator, Kyla Soltis Anderson, is also known as the author of the novel “The Selfie Vote: Where Millennials Are Leading America ( and How Republicans Can Keep up).”
Biden picked up the message of Americans losing pride in America, but instead of reverting back to a pre-civil rights era, he said it was like feeling unmoored in recent years. 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.” Many audience members still believe that the 2020 election was not legitimate, and that it is part of a 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.
Fast forward to 2023, and even after two years of controlling the executive and legislative branches of government, Democrats were unable to pass a comprehensive police reform bill. Such is the nature of the filibuster and GOP opposition to the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. If Congress fails to pass meaningful policing reform this term, it is important that Biden remind key constituencies of his fight. 2024 is around the corner, and the voters who backed him last time will want to know this issue is still a priority for the president.
Joe Biden: The Real Thing About Government, Economy, and the Problems of the Middle-of-The-road Voting Congress
He pointed out that families can finally afford a vacation when they feel like it, but they are hit with resort fees at places that aren’t a resort and airlines have to seat parents with their children.
Biden says 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. The current congress is running in an alternate reality.
Middle-of-the-road voters didn’t see the southern border or inflation as important to them as they did the issues of importance to voters. Neither did the Chinese spy balloon, whose coast-to-coast journey undermines Biden’s tough talk toward Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Biden didn’t provide much in the way of bipartisan agreement going forward but he did give a description of his legislative accomplishments.
Joe Biden did a better job tonight than he had done in the past. 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 move the needle? Telling the tale of a man who did: Tennessee’s Lieutenant Governor in the wake of his victory against the GOP
Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor was a CNN political contributor. 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.”
While Biden extended an olive branch to Republicans and called for bipartisan cooperation, he also sent a clear message that he is more than up for the fight against the GOP. Time and again, Biden gave as good as he got from a rowdy GOP caucus, maintaining greater control of the room in the face of heckling than Kevin McCarthy has since the 15 rounds it took for him to become House speaker.
Karen has worked at the intersection of politics, media and cultural change for 25 years. She has held a variety of positions in her career, including as a leader in the fight for civil rights and social justice.
But he now faces an even sterner test: Did he actually move the needle? Among presidents of the recent past, a public appearance as powerful as this one could shake up politics. Clinton and Reagan were able to change their minds when they held a microphone.
It was easy to understand why he was mired deep in the polls during Biden’s presidency. 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 how upset he was.
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. 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.
David Gergen, the black man who killed Tyre Nichols, and the Ukrainian ambassador: Biden, the Black man who died, or if you were a citizen of the United States
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.
It was political malpractice for him to not call on Congress to pass a law. 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 was a Representative for New York’s 17th Congressional District. He is 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. This was the first State of the Union after the Supreme Court stripped American women of a fundamental right. 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.
The Republican caucus seemed to want to highlight the differences between Biden and their 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 may say more than Biden could.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/opinions/highlights-lowlights-biden-sotu-roundup/index.html
Bipartisan bipartisanship in the wake of a shooting tragedy: When President Biden announced his resignation, he told the nation he was going to jail
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 the social networking site.
As a native of Monterey Park, California, it is still surreal to me that my hometown experienced a mass shooting last month that claimed the lives of 11 people. It was moving when the president thanked Brandon Tsay for his bravery in disarming the suspected shooter. It was a poignant reminder of our continuing need for gun reform – as well as deserved recognition of a brave American.
The president urged his fellow lawmakers to make the issue of immigration a bipartisan one. He said that immigration problems will not be fixed until Congress acts, despite his administration’s new efforts at the border. He’s absolutely right; at best, the president alone can make only temporary fixes to our immigration system. Some members of the House chanted, “Secure the border” during the common-sense section of his speech. This shows the president’s dilemma: he supports reasonable immigration reform, but he also dislikes it. Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, are fixated on generating chaos and division around the issue.
The most noteworthy moment of the night was when Kevin McCarthy, the new Speaker of the House, yelled from his own conference that they need to secure the border. It was a remarkable act of leadership from a man who has aligned himself with the former president who voted to overturn the 2020 election results and pack the House Oversight Committee with election deniers.
It was clear from this speech that Biden is running for a second term. He seems to be ready to fight for the American people and every American’s vote.
Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/08/opinions/highlights-lowlights-biden-sotu-roundup/index.html
The “Unity Agenda” of Biden and the United States: Amy Allison, Susanna Allison, and Frida Ghitis
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.
These goals, the White House is calculating, are ideal for a period when it expects Congress to pass few bills and for House Republicans to focus on investigations of Biden’s family and his administration. The “Unity Agenda” does not represent outreach to his opponents; it is a package of uncontroversial proposals that he is daring Republicans to resist.
But it has done little to actually unify the country. Recent polls suggest Americans are just as divided as they were before the midterms, and a solid majority expect little more than partisan gridlock from Washington the 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.”
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.”
The Baby Is Born: President Biden’s State of the Union Address Addressed by Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-Arizona)
The youngest governor in the country is 40 years old. She said that Biden was too old to be commander in chief and he was the oldest president in American history.
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. The people of the USA are still hurting.
“I’m the first woman to lead my state, and he’s the first man to surrender his presidency to a woke mob that can’t even tell you what a woman is,” Sanders said.
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 press secretary of the Trump administration was identified as Sanders.
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.
Prediction of a 2024 Argument by President Joe Biden: How Republicans are trying to create chaos and how Congress should respond to their criticism
In a preview of a 2024 argument, President joe Biden brought his State of the Union populist economic message to Wisconsin on Wednesday firing back at Republicans and highlighting US manufacturing.
Many of the Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare. Well, let me just say this: It’s your dream, but I’m gonna have my veto pen make it a nightmare,” he said.
Mike Lee was yelling about a house of fire and other things last night, and there is a senator named Mike Lee. … 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.
“From the folks that did it, I was,” Biden said. “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, he said during his speech. When their budget is laid down with the cuts they are proposing, I will believe it. It looks like we made a deal on the House of Representatives floor.
“People sent us a clear message: 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 said Republicans are trying to create chaos and called for Congress to raise the debt limit.
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 hundreds of dollars a month to make it harder to pay your bills or afford that family trip. I know how unfair it feels when a company overcharges you and think they can get away with it.”
The State of the Union: “It’s Time for a Change,” Rep. Juan Ciscomani tells Huckabee-Sanders
Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee-Sanders attacked the “radical left” that included “indoctrinating” children and forcing “woke” cultures on Americans in her English language response, while Arizona Rep. JuanCiscomani stuck to policy issues.
Brendan Steinhauser is a political strategist who is based in Texas.
He said that these are the kind of issues that independent and swing voters care about. They want someone to focus on bread-and-butter pocketbook issues, rather than cultural war issues. But again, you’re trying to build a party coalition to win a national election.”
Steinhauser says that the speech seemed to be more positive, hopeful, uplifting and personal with a focus on policy that could appeal to a wider crowd of independents, swing voters, moderate Republicans and business Republicans.
The speech was more for Republicans. “I think that she wants to be seen as a player within the Republican Party,” said a public affairs consultant in Arizona. “Juan’s approach was more to a broader audience … as opposed to what she was doing … which I think was more directed at party regulars and why she could be a good leader for them moving forward.”
He said the soul of the nation is strong because the nation’s core is strong and people of the nation are strong.
Ciscomani urged them to put their differences in the past and focus on results to keep the dream alive for future generations. The state of our union is strong because our people are strong. We can overcome any obstacle. Our best days lie ahead.”
“America is great because we are free. But today, our freedom is under attack, and the America we love is in danger. President Biden and the Democrats have failed you. “It’s time for a change,” she said.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/09/1155593860/republican-state-of-the-union-rebuttals-differed-in-more-than-just-language
Towards a New Voting Platform for Hispanics in the Arizona Legislature: A View from the Perspective of Democratic Party Structure and Politics
The state of Arizona will soon be a political hot spot as parties try to get over various voting bases, including Spanish speaking voters. The talking points will be designed to get those who are moderate, swing voters, and those who are color voters to vote for the party that will win the election.
“I think Sarah Huckabee’s was good, but I just wish the Republican Party would use people such as Juan more often, especially to appeal to Hispanics, since they might mistakenly write off the Hispanic population as Democrats,” said Molera.
Hispanic voters have begun trending Republican in recent elections, especially in Florida and Texas. In states like Arizona, Nevada and Colorado Hispanics tended to support Democratic candidates.
“I think the people that ran for both the U.S. Senate and the governor’s races [in Arizona], they did that divisiveness and they didn’t even try,” Molera said, adding that there are conservative values that do appeal to Latino-identifying voters. “I think that’s something that could be hugely beneficial to Republicans, especially if we want to win anything again in Arizona.”