After duct-taping my eyelids open to stay up and watch the State of the Union last night, I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. This was not expected. Years of watching political speeches have left me dead inside; each new one forces unwanted existential questions into my life.
But maybe it's because Joe Biden—who used the address to highlight a progressive agenda and rigorously call out the poison that is Donald Trump—did not leave me panicking. In this climate, that might be enough to say that he got the job done. From my colleague David Corn, a hero who stayed up past 1 a.m. ET to make sure that, come daylight, readers would be up to speed on the SOTU:
Biden offered a stark definition of the choice in 2024. The other guy is all about anger and division, and he endangers democracy overseas and here. He is fixated on identifying and denouncing his enemies, rousing tribalistic ire, and amassing his own power. Biden presents himself as the guy who cares about the country as a whole and has a long to-do list for the benefit of many. And, perhaps best for Biden, at a time when questions about his age and capabilities have assumed a supersized role in the campaign, he showed he can fight.
Now will it be enough to bring up his lagging poll numbers? We'll see. But at least Biden can ride into the weekend knowing that he met the challenge. Perhaps next time the president will personally drop the dehumanizing language that his administration had already officially moved beyond.
—Inae Oh
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