Intently. Fingers crossed.
That's how I will watch Biden give tonight's State of the Union speech.
What he says won't matter. What matters is how he says it.
This is a job interview.
All presidents give the same State of the Union speech.
We already know what will happen. I could write a news story now. The only problem with that story is that it would be about the irrelevant thing. Not the important thing.
The House chamber will be full. There will be a little chatter by TV commentators about who is not there. Perhaps the Supreme Court members this time. Perhaps a couple of GOP House members. A voice will shout out "Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States."
There will be the applause, then handshaking on the slow walk to the podium, and after a tedious ten minutes of this, the speech. The president -- and this is true of every president, Republican and Democrat -- will then give a speech that is predictable and too long. He will list five, seven, ten, maybe more accomplishments, the so-called "laundry list." His party's members will stand and applaud.
Then he will switch to the future, the "wish-list" part of the speech. There will be a dozen or so of these aspirations.
The president will insert cameos of some good Americans seated near the president's spouse.
The speech will end with a rousing summation of patriotic can-do optimism. More applause, a slow exit, and then a switch to a panel of commentators who rehash the speech.
That is the template. Fill in the blanks. No one remembers the lists. Is there a single reader who can remember any part of Biden's 2021, 2022, or 2023 speech? Or the speech of any other president? If someone stands up and shouts, "You lie!," as someone did to Barack Obama, people will remember that. That wasn't in the script. People will remember that Trump had an ailing Rush Limbaugh stand up in one of the cameos, because Limbaugh was such a divisive figure. People might remember the banter between Biden and House Republicans mid-speech when Biden appeared to have taken them up on some compromise offer. That wasn't in the script, either.
No one remembers the script.
What matters is how Biden looks and sounds. Will he look old and tired? Will he stumble physically or verbally? Will his voice sound strong?
This is a job interview and wellness check. Joe Biden is the candidate for a potential extension of his contract. We already know his resume. This is the "let's talk with the candidate face-to-face" part of the hiring process. We are alert to cues. Do we still like this guy? Is he up to the job for whatever it entails for the next contract period? Is there anything "off"? Any red flags?
Democratic partisans and commentators are bunkering, toeing the company line, saying that fears of Biden's age are pointless and wrong-headed. He's our guy. Support him. They complain that Democrats validate Republican talking points if they talk about his age and manner. Look at his successes! The resume of accomplishments speaks for itself! But a resume is never enough. The job candidate needs to prove himself in the interview.
I will be doing what I suspect most Americans will be, including the readers of this blog who think talk of Biden's age is transgressive and dangerous. We will all be looking at Biden and making a gut decision: Is this guy up to the job for the next five years? Will other people think so? That's all that matters.
Tonight Biden will be performing a well-known play, delivered year after year by presidents. We know the script. The only question is how well he can deliver the lines.
Joe gave an awesome speech! I had nearly fallen victim to the Democrats' tiresome ageist drumbeat on Biden. It was almost as tiresome as traitor trump's nattering (as a nabob - like) No not really, Nothing could really be as bad as traitor rapist criminal trump ! But Joe's home run has him back in the game, thankfully!
I thought Biden gave a great rallying speech. I look forward to your take. When there is a break in the national action can you explain what is going on in Fire Dist 5’s board actions? I don’t have a dog in the fight but I am curious. Keep up the great commentary,