As a piece of political theater, United States President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address was an energetic success.
He effectively answered questions about his age, delivering a forceful speech that included several back-and-forths with interrupting Republicans. At times, it felt closer to the atmosphere of question time in the British Parliament, which may be disconcerting to some State of the Union traditionalists, but which served to put the president’s wits to the test in a way that no prepared text could have.
As a matter of substance, however, the question is whether Biden can turn back political time and win an age-old economic policy argument. To do that, he is going to have to risk offending members of his own party and engage in what Republicans have traditionally criticized as class warfare. He can start doing this on the swing-state tour that he began Saturday in Georgia and continues this week in New Hampshire, Michigan and Wisconsin.
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