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I have seen at least 20 presidential speeches in Congress. No one has so far finished with the words “thank you for your patience”.
The effectiveness of Joe Biden he spoke it was not in oratory or atmosphere, as social distance thinned. It wasn’t essentially even if Biden proposed an ambitious agenda. He repeatedly used the word “us” instead of “me” for the presidency – and rather than the division of the legislature, people at home were having an audience with Biden.
Most such speeches rarely move the needle – and Biden’s will be no exception. In the evening of Biden’s 99th term, Biden made it clear that he would be the kind of president he would be. Most striking is that he has listened to advice on how to avoid it literally. For more than an hour, his address was not short. But he had a bigger economy than the average dinner when he was vice president or senator. A leopard cannot change places. Biden’s word-of-mouth illness was one of the biggest shortcomings he has had in politics in a long time. It’s hard to remember a gaffe he made since he was a Democratic candidate 14 months ago.
Biden frequently departed from his text on Wednesday night. But in most cases, a summary had to be made before returning to the prepared notes. “What? Do you think deer wear Kevlar vests?” The gun owners asked after the hunters said they didn’t need semi-automatic military rifles. There is also no evidence of cognitive decline, although this remains a recurring trope among critics of Biden. John Cornyn, a Republican senator from Texas, recently said Biden’s lack of tweets betrayed signs of an absent president. As Biden showed on his preference for collective pronouns on Wednesday night, what this means is that his predecessor is different in nature.
The second pointer was Biden’s focus on middle-class concerns. Talks like this are a common list of things the president wants Congress to approve. Biden is pushing for a broad set of bills covering more than $ 4,000 in new spending, as well as immigration, voting rights and labor market reforms. But he spent more time framing his arguments than checking what the bills entailed. The words “jobs” and “blue collar” were repeated over and over again. His main message was “The Neck Plan for Rebuilding America.” Face to face climate change he said it creates jobs. There was no need to talk about glacial melting. It was a disciplined lecture aimed at the middle classes.
Corporate America he will not be happy with the war against Biden tax evasion. Some of what Biden said, such as the “Buy American” emphasis, will not even be welcomed by America’s international partners. But none of Biden’s priorities should surprise anyone. In Donald Trump’s presidency, it was a recurring joke that said weekly was “infrastructure week”. Every time such an expansion was announced, Trump exploded his administration’s plans with random initiatives, usually via Twitter. If you accept the broad definition of infrastructure (which includes social spending and much more), Biden’s the first 100 days the infrastructure has been a long week.
The third pointer was what Biden did not say. Many Democrats are concerned about the political dangers posed by the cultural left’s “awakening” of the Democratic Party. James Carville, Bill Clinton’s election guru, said this week: “Wokeness is an issue and everyone knows it. It’s hard to talk to anyone today… Who doesn’t say this. But they don’t mean it out loud.” Biden did not throw a bone in his speech toward the left incision, which removed the conservative harm from easy discussions. Words like “Latinx” and phrases like “transgender bathroom” that dominate democratic discourse did not appear. This gave him a sharp reading of his party’s Achilles heel.
Biden’s speech showed U.S. politics at a surreal moment in its history. As a veteran centrist, Biden surprises the country and the world with the multi-million dollar scale of his intentions. But he explains his plans in the popular tones of a grandparents ’homily. On the other side of the aisle is a Republican party that is exploring everything Biden does and looking for signs of brotherhood and cultural radicalism. He betrays no trace of the former and offers very little to the latter. Against the latest viral rumors, Americans will still have a chance to eat burgers on July 4th. No doubt Biden will be watching him.
edward.luce@ft.com
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