Joseph Sabino Mistick: Biden steps forward into the fight

I don’t have the wildest idea what the ultimate impact of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech will be. I don’t know if the public will be more persuaded that things are going OK or if they will think that we are on the wrong path.

I can’t predict whether voters will continue to cringe about a president who would be 86 at the end of a second term or cringe even more at the thought of a President Harris. And I can’t predict if they will lighten up and recognize what an excellent leader Biden has been.

But what I can say is that it was a helluva speech.

Biden entered the House of Representatives chamber looking like an old seasoned boxer who had been looking forward to stepping into the ring. And he gave us a master class in political pugilism.

Part conciliatory and part combative, Biden listed his considerable legislative and policy accomplishments at the opening bell. He congratulated and praised Republican leadership. And he gave Republicans credit for those times when they put nation over party and provided bipartisan support for his programs.

Biden even reassured those Republicans who voted against his infrastructure bill and are now pretending that they have deftly secured funding for much-needed projects in their districts. He said that he is “a president for all Americans.” He promised them, “We’ll fund these projects. And I’ll see you at the groundbreaking.”

Biden switched easily from humor to passion, alternately cajoling or scolding, feinting or jabbing. He steadily pressed forward as he presented his agenda for the next two years — changes for working families, forgotten Americans who are battling health problems, those who are swamped by junk fees or burdened by taxes that the billionaires don’t pay.

He went after the “Big Lie” and the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. He recognized Paul Pelosi, the victim of a hammer attack by a right-wing zealot who said he intended to use the hammer on former Speaker Nancy Pelosi if he found her at home. “There is no place for political violence in America,” Biden said.

And when he took a big swing at his opponents, saying that “some” Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare, members of the “crackpot caucus” of the Republican Party shouted “liar” and hooted and jeered — so much that their own leader, Speaker Kevin McCarthy, tried shushing them from the platform.

Biden knew then that he had them, and he smiled like a guy whose opponent had suddenly dropped his guard. By the end of the exchange, Republicans had turned against themselves and were on Biden’s side, cheering for Social Security and Medicare, shouting that they would not mess with either program. And Biden welcomed them to his side, smiling his biggest smile, saying, “I enjoy conversion.”

Those who were expecting Biden to stumble forgot where he grew up. In Scranton and towns all over the country just like it, you learn early on that when a fight breaks out, you better take two steps forward, into the fight, never back. That’s what he wants all of us to do.

At the end of his speech Biden said, “Remember who we are. We are the United States of America and nothing, nothing, is beyond our capacity if we do it together.”