What Went Down During President Biden’s Speech To Congress

It is interesting to have Scott, a Black Republican from South Carolina, give the response to Biden’s address. Some new research shows that “some Black candidates — most notably, Republicans with an individualist message — benefit electorally from higher levels of racial resentment in the electorate.”

Scott quickly pivots to his personal story. It’s a good one — and is part of why I picked him in the second round of our way-too-early 2024 presidential primary draft.

I generally agree with what other people have said here about the content of the speech. But I think Biden’s general tendency to push for a “return to normalcy” in his rhetoric shined through tonight. He was pushing some very big proposals, some of which may never pass Congress. But he tried to sound unifying and avoided demonizing or taking shots at people. At the end of the day, this kind of approach echoed his 2020 campaign, so it’s not surprising. But following Trump, this was quite a change.