Biden Mostly Delivered What He Promised
His speech was nothing special. But a return to normality has been the president’s theme all along.
Normal.
Photographer: Melina Mara/Bloomberg
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The most memorable parts of President Joe Biden’s first address to a joint session of Congress had nothing to do with him. The first was the half-empty room, a consequence of the pandemic. The second? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Kamala Harris together on the dais, historic symbols of a changing nation and a changing political party.
To note that nothing Biden said was as memorable isn’t a criticism; it’s rare that anything in this format makes that kind of history. And Biden didn’t do a bad job. He explained what he’s done, and what he plans to do, in the context of what he promised during the campaign.
So, for example: Biden promised a return to normal politics after the tumult and weirdness of the previous four years? He delivered a by-the-book, laundry-list speech, light on boasting and grievances and heavy on traditional patriotism and democratic symbolism. He promised mainstream liberal policy choices? He went through one after another, generally emphasizing themes that poll well. And he promised empathy? Well, he once again delivered.
In a lot of ways, though, the speech wasn’t really about Biden. We’re in an era of partisan presidencies, with even Trump mostly following the lead of Republicans in Congress and other party professionals. Biden, who has made a career of finding the center of the Democratic Party and moving to it without appearing to be pandering, shows no signs of departing from his colleagues. That doesn’t mean he’s irrelevant; after all, there are plenty of internal party disputes that need to be resolved, and policy details and personnel matter. But it’s easy to imagine several of the 2020 Democratic candidates giving much the same speech had they won.
But if the substance wasn’t unique to Biden, the style to a large extent was. Most recent presidents have used such speeches as simply a different kind of setting to speak directly to the nation, with members of Congress basically acting as props. Biden’s style was more like Bill Clinton’s: He often acted as if he was mainly speaking to the people in the room, who are part of the joint project of governing. It’s no surprise that Democrats, who are more comfortable with the laundry-list type of speech, seem drawn to that style and the relatively plain, practical prose that goes with it. Similarly, it’s no surprise that Republicans tend toward the direct-to-voters style, since they’re usually on firmer ground with general statements of ideology and more poetic language. Again, I’m generalizing. But I do think that there’s something in the distinction between styles.
Anyway, Biden seemed to deliver what he set out to do. The hard parts are still to come.
1. Andrew Aoki and Pei-te Lien at the Monkey Cage offer a reading list on Asian American politics.
2. Hans Noel at Mischiefs of Faction on the intra-Democratic argument about “wokeness.”
3. William Adler on reapportionment.
4. My Bloomberg Opinion colleague Ramesh Ponnuru on housing.
5. Glenn Kessler, Salvador Rizzo and Adriana Usero fact-check Biden’s speech.
6. Josh Kraushaar on Trump and the House special election this Saturday in Texas.
7. And Thomas Wright on Biden and India.