Biden in front of Congress to instill some optimism in a disillusioned America

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Convincing a disillusioned America that he is the architect of its renewed prosperity and the guarantor of its future success: Joe Biden, who plans to run for re-election in 2024, delivers a policy speech on Tuesday with high stakes.< /p>

At the start of every year, for decades, the US President has come before Congress for his “State of the Union Address.”

The “main message (will) be that we have yet to make progress, but that people have to feel optimistic,” Joe Biden's top economic adviser, Brian Deese, said Monday.

This great ritual of American political life follows a well-regulated choreography, with its share of ovations in the spans of the presidential party and dismayed faces in the opposing camp.

This year, the Democrat will have, seated behind him, the brand new Republican leader of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy.

In an America where political divisions are deeper than ever, the latter assured that he would not make a splash, for example by ostensibly tearing up the president's speech, as his Democratic predecessor Nancy Pelosi did behind Donald Trump in 2020.

“I respect the opposing camp,” assured the conservative.

2024

At 80, Joe Biden has a lot to do to convince his compatriots that he is their best option, now and potentially in 2024.< /p>

The Democratic president, who has not formalized his candidacy, has the figures for him: robust growth, low unemployment and calming inflation.

But the statistics don't tell the tale. Despite the enormous investments and reforms adopted in two years, 62% of Americans believe that it has done “little” or “hardly anything”, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll.

< p> On Tuesday, the Democrat will therefore want to have a “conversation with the Americans”, said his spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre, on the MSNBC channel. “He will talk about the progress made”, but also “put himself on the level of the people, because he understands that they are still in difficulty”.

She said the speech would be “Joe Biden.” The American president, not inclined to oratorical flights, adept at good-natured interjections and comforting anecdotes, should therefore hammer out his favorite formulas on the middle class “backbone” of America, to which we must give “a little 'air' and 'dignity'.

China and Tire Nichols

Joe Biden, as if immune to the doldrums of his compatriots, also repeats that he has “never been so optimistic” for the first power world, despite international perils.

As the first anniversary of the war in Ukraine approaches, Joe Biden should tout the Western response to Russia and more broadly his vision as a “leader of the free world” in the face of autocracies.

And in particular against China, which the United States accuses of having sent a “spy” balloon over their territory, finally shot down on Saturday.

Joe Biden, champion of unity and compromise, will scan a wide range of consensus topics.

The White House has already indicated that it will focus on four areas “where Americans expect their elected officials to cooperate across partisan lines”: the fight against cancer, support for veterans, mental health, and the spike in synthetic opioid-related deaths.

The president will also want to address more divisive societal issues, which the White House guest list provides some insight into.< /p>

Parents of Tyre Nichols, a young African-American man victim of police violence in Memphis; a lesbian couple; a “hero” who disarmed the perpetrator of a deadly shooting in California; and a Texas woman who nearly died from a miscarriage after doctors refused to treat her for fear of violating a law restricting abortion.

According to the Washington Post and the Financial Times, the Democrats could also put tech giants in their sights, calling for more regulation, and the big money, arguing for heavier taxation.