President Biden is huddled with his closest advisors this weekend at Camp David in Maryland’s Blue Ridge Mountains honing his State of the Union speech. It’s the same warmup routine he used before his well-regarded address before Congress last year, when he parried back against hecklers, negotiated on the fly with Republicans, and did not fall victim to any major gaffes or stumbles.
Biden desperately needs a repeat performance, as concerns about his mental acuity dog his re-election bid. When he addresses the House and Senate on Thursday, March 7, many voters will be watching more closely, and his performance will be parsed for any signs that the 81-year-old President is slipping.
“Rarely if ever have words mattered less when it comes to the State of the Union than this one,” says Jim Manley, a Democratic strategist and former senior aide to the late Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. Most voters, Manley says, are going to be looking at how Biden handles himself amid what could be a somewhat hostile crowd in the House chamber. Voters won’t be looking for a detailed, multi-point policy plan, Manley says. “It’s more about signaling to everyone that he’s got another four years in him.”
As concerns over his age and memory intensify, Biden has found himself playing defense following allegations about his mental state from a special counsel’s report on his handling of classified documents. While the report did not recommend pursuing charges against Biden for his actions, Special Counsel Robert Hur highlighted instances where Biden struggled to recall key dates from his vice presidency and the year his son Beau died, leading Hur to describe the President as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
There will be few other moments between now and November when Biden will have a larger broadcast audience than Thursday night’s address. That means a large part of Biden’s bid to extend his presidency rides on his performance, argues Whit…
