One administration official said the speech’s importance is not lost on the president’s top advisers — and the president himself.

Advisers grappling with President Joe Biden’s stubbornly low poll numbers and pressure from Democrats to shake up his strategy are planning a far more aggressive approach in coming weeks, with a keen focus on what they see as a high-stakes opportunity and hurdle to clear: the State of the Union address.

One administration official said the speech’s importance is not lost on the president’s top advisers — and the president himself.

“This is probably going to be the most important speech of his presidency and it’s going to set the tone for [this] year,” another administration official said.

The White House is trying to fend off Democratic anxiety about how the incumbent president enters the election year — virtually tied with former President Donald Trump in national polls.

  • distantsounds@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    He’s literally the best president we’ve had in the past 40 years.

    …and that’s when I stopped reading.

    • Ashyr@sh.itjust.works
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      10 months ago

      In all seriousness, who’s better? I think the only serious contender is Obama, who doubtless accomplished a lot of important things, but also had a lot of political naivete and struggled to navigate a similarly divided Congress.

      Clinton runs a distant third, but had a solid economical and political landscape and basically didn’t mess anything up too badly. I guess H. W. Bush would be fourth, but his single term made it clear he was anything other than dynamic or compelling even at the time. W. Bush was downright devastating for our political and economic standing. Reagan is basically why we are where we are today. He still enjoys too much goodwill for how disastrous he was for the US.

      • distantsounds@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Obama 100% it ain’t even close, Jack.

        He met the moment. I have plenty of gripes (ie not prog enough), but he was a solid leader for the country. Ironically, I think much of this MAGA shit is fallout from having a competent black man as president. AND he wanted to give you healthcare?! Half the country’s brains exploded trying to figure out how free healthcare could be a bad thing

        • Ashyr@sh.itjust.works
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          10 months ago

          I think that’s a really fair argument to make. I agree that having a black man in office drove half the country insane. I think Obama was a great communicator, inspirational figure and his healthcare reforms were deeply important.