Ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address, the conventional wisdom suggested this would be a speech in which the Democrat “pivoted.” The expectations were hardly outlandish: Biden’s poll numbers have sunk; much of his legislative agenda appears stalled; and his party’s prospects in the midterm elections, at least for now, appear bleak.
It was against this backdrop that the president would go to Capitol Hill, address the nation in a time of crisis, and present new ideas and a new vision for the future.
Or not.
As it turns out, Biden and his team came to the conclusion that what’s needed is not some radical departure or a dramatic overhaul. This is not the time for Biden 2.0 or a new policy agenda. What’s needed is a determined leader who’s eager to persevere in pursuit of the values and goals that put him in the White House in the first place.
Biden isn’t giving up on Ukraine:
“Let each of us here, if you’re able to stand, stand and send an unmistakable signal to the world and Ukraine. Yes, we, the United States of America, stand with the Ukrainian people.”
Biden isn’t giving up on multilateralism:
“We prepared extensively and carefully. We spent months building a coalition of other freedom-loving nations in Europe and the Americas to the Asian and African continents to confront Putin. Like many of you, I spent countless hours unifying our European allies. We shared with the world in advance what we knew Putin was planning, and precisely how he would try to falsify and justify his aggression. We countered Russia’s lies with the truth. And now that he has acted, the free world is holding him accountable.”
Biden isn’t giving up on promoting democracy over autocracy:
“In the battle between democracy and autocracies, democracies are rising to the moment, and the world is clearly choosing the side of peace and security.”
Biden isn’t giving up on NATO:
“As I have made crystal clear: The United States and our allies will defend every inch of territory that is NATO territory with the full force of our collective power. Every single inch.”
Biden isn’t giving up on promoting his economic success story:
“In fact, our economy created over 6.5 million new jobs just last year, more jobs created in one year than ever before in the history of the United States of America. The economy grew at a rate of 5.7 last year, the strongest growth rate in nearly 40 years, the first step in bringing fundamental change to our economy that hasn’t worked for the working people of this nation for too long.”
Biden isn’t giving up on promoting his biggest bipartisan achievement:
“That’s why it was so important to pass the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law — and I thank my Republican colleagues who joined to invest and rebuild America, the single biggest investment in history. This was a bipartisan effort, and I want to thank the members of both parties who worked to make it happen. We’re done talking about infrastructure weeks. We’re now talking about an infrastructure decade.”
Biden isn’t giving up on his climate agenda: “Let’s provide investment tax credits to weatherize your home and your business to be energy efficient and get a tax credit for it; double America’s clean energy production in solar, wind and so much more; lower the price of electric vehicles, saving you another $80 a month that you’ll never have to pay at the pump.”
Biden isn’t giving up on Build Back Better (even if he didn’t use the phrase): “My plan would cut the cost in half for most families and help parents, including millions of women, who left the work force during the pandemic because they couldn’t afford child care, to be able to get back to work. Generating economic growth. But my plan doesn’t stop there. It also includes home and long-term care. More affordable housing. Pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds. All of these will lower costs for families.”
Biden isn’t giving up on his cancer moonshot: “Our goal is to cut cancer death rates by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years. I think we can do better than that. Turn cancers from death sentences into treatable diseases. More support for patients and their families. To get there, I call on Congress to fund what I call ARPA-H, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health.”
Biden isn’t even giving up on optimism: “There’s something happening in America. Just look around, and you’ll see an amazing story…. I know this nation. We’ll meet the test. Protect freedom and liberty, expand fairness and opportunity. And we will save democracy. As hard as those times have been, I am more optimistic about America today than I’ve been my whole life.”
Americans saw a confident, resolute president, reassuring a rattled public. “I know the news about what’s happening can seem alarming to all Americans,” Biden said at one point. “But I want you to know that we are going to be OK. We are going to be OK.” It’s the kind empathy and agenda Biden ran on and won. So why give up on that vision now?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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