USAnalysis

Joe Biden’s bipartisan gloves are off: this is how he plans to campaign

Analysis: US president’s feisty State of the Union speech ought to end speculation that he might still consider stepping down

US president Joe Biden delivers the State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington. Photograph: Kenny Holston/New York Times

Edward Luce
Fri Mar 8 2024 - 12:30

There is a lot to be said for low expectations. Proof that Joe Biden cleared them was that his State of the Union speech was criticised by opponents for being too “amped up”. That is far removed from the stumbling fatigue that the president’s detractors forecast. After a somewhat halting start, Biden warmed to the moment. By the end he was relishing it. If he can convert Thursday night’s prime time energy into a campaign staple, it would go some way towards blunting doubts that he lacks vitality for the job.

One speech will not fix Biden’s abysmal numbers. But it sets the tone for how he plans to run his campaign. There were three pointers from Biden’s State of the Union address. The first is that only he can answer doubts about his stamina. No surrogate can do that for him. His feisty display ought to put an end to speculation that he might still consider stepping down. Bill Clinton used to say that you should mute the sound to judge a politician’s effect. In Biden’s case it would have shown a “pol’s pol” – someone who would have to be forcibly dragged offstage. Biden’s age makes people forget that he was the youngest senator in US history. His life was always consumed by politics. At 81, this leopard is not going to retire quietly or change its spots.

The second is that Biden’s bipartisan gloves have come off. The best form of defence is attack. Some commentators disapprovingly noted Biden criticised his “predecessor” about a dozen times. Most State of the Union addresses would expect at least some applause on both sides of the chamber. Though Biden did not mention Donald Trump by name, he bent protocol – and his long-cherished idea of how politics should be conducted – by giving an overtly partisan address. A few marbled statues on Capitol Hill might have frowned. But his framing was tailored to today’s politics. Traditional etiquette offers no answer to the unique challenge posed by Trump.

The third pointer comes from the Republican reaction to Biden’s speech. Even the most apathetic citizen is familiar with the body language at this uniquely American annual set-piece event. The president’s speech is repeatedly interrupted by standing ovations, often from both parties. Republicans could not be expected to clap calls for higher taxes on the wealthy, attacks on their partisanship or a defence of Obamacare. What was striking about Biden’s address, however, was the Republican Party’s stony-faced response to easy conservative applause lines. Normally a plea to push back Russian aggression would trigger Republican cheers. The same applies to “We’re the United States of America”. They sat impassively and unsmilingly throughout.

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Republican senators John Barrasso, John Thune and Mitch McConnell await Joe Biden's State of the Union address in the House of Representatives. Photograph: Shawn Thew/EPA

All of which presages the weird 2024 election campaign. Nothing can banish doubts about Biden’s age. However energetic he was on Thursday night, the effect would be erased by a trip on the hustings next week. On the Republican side, however, there was a visible cognitive dissonance. Recent voting records and common sense make it clear that most Republican legislators would still vote for more money for Ukraine if Trump gave them permission. Lacking such permission, they were forced to suppress their foreign policy instincts – and ignore Reaganesque exhortations to the stars and stripes. There is nothing so American as legislators leaping insincerely to their feet when a president of the other party gives a shout out to the flag. Even apple pie would come second to that. The Republican silence was deafening.

A day before Biden’s speech, the Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, endorsed Trump for the presidency. This was in spite of having called him a “despicable human being” after the storming of Capitol Hill three years ago. There are many authentic Trumpians on the Republican benches. There are also dozens of McConnells paying homage to a man they privately despise. The more Biden can direct people’s attention to the fear around Trump’s personality cult, the more he will enjoy himself. – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024

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