Just As We Expected: A Hot Take on the State of the Union Address

I applaud anybody who watched the full State of the Union Address by President Biden who clocked in a speech that lasted over an hour. Much of it was filled with ramblings of policies and veto threats that didn’t touch on topics that many Americans were expecting to hear. Instead of discussing China at length, Biden made several comments about airlines and hotels. However, Biden did demonstrate that he is ready for another presidential campaign. He cracked jokes about the Super Bowl and bantered with the audience. 

President Biden showed America that he is alive, in good health and ready to be the Democratic nominee for the 2024 election. His address was full of fluffs about how well the economy is doing compared to during the depths of the pandemic, pledges to create bipartisan legislation for infrastructure among other things and a common phrase: finish the job. Biden, with this catchphrase, is setting the groundwork for his campaign to be America’s oldest president. 

Many Republican politicians didn’t help their party at Biden’s speech by imitating something closer to the House of Commons in Great Britain than a State of the Union. There was plenty of heckling from Marjorie Taylor Greene yelling “liar” and others shouting “BS.” Admittedly, some of these comments may have been warranted, especially when Biden tried to blame Republican lawmakers for proposing to cut social security and Medicare when they had already tabled that idea. However, the State of the Union Address is no place for lawmakers to shout at their president. Republicans acted just as the Biden administration wanted them to and furthered the façade that Republicans are unfit to lead our country. 

As we inch closer to the impending 2024 election, Biden may still have his work cut out for him with an approval rating of only 41% where a mere 37% of Democrats want him to run for re-election. But what else does the Democratic Party have to offer other than Joe Biden? Surely Kamala Harris won’t win and god forbid we see another Trump versus Clinton race. 

Biden has successfully shown that he has the energy for another four years in office. The question now is this: can Republicans come up with a candidate that is endearing to both Trumpers and classical conservatives that will beat out such a seemingly safe choice like Biden?