What Went Down During President Biden’s Speech To Congress

Yeah, Sarah, that may have been a strategic choice. Polls suggest that the coronavirus stimulus package and infrastructure bill are very popular, even enjoying some crossover support among Republicans; racial issues like immigration reform, reparations and police reform are a lot more divisive. Plus, there is the study Alex cited earlier that emphasizing racial issues is not good politics. Biden may feel like the safest ground to tread is one that deemphasizes cultural conflict and plays up economic populism.

I agree with what Meredith said earlier, about the “both sides” rhetoric we’ve seen in Biden’s speech tonight on racial equality and policing. A lot of 2021 has focused on “cancel culture” and how the GOP is using that as a strategy to attack Democrats for being too liberal. And as we mentioned earlier on the live blog, Biden has acted far more liberal than some of his predecessors, but that wasn’t really reflected in his remarks tonight. He mainly focused on an economic messaging. Does that reflect that Democrats are really concerned about this messaging?

For what it’s worth, I think Cruz “falling asleep” was 100 percent a bit. It was about as authentic as Glenn Close’s “Da Butt” moment at the Oscars.