The Memo: Biden speech gets wartime overtone
By Niall Stanage - 03/01/22 06:01 AM EST
The Russian invasion of Ukraine will loom over all else when President Biden steps into the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday evening to deliver his first State of the Union address.
There are other issues that Biden wants and needs to speak about, given that his approval ratings are at a low ebb and the nation is polarized and weary.
But the Ukraine crisis is of such magnitude that it will dwarf every other topic. One of the biggest military clashes in Europe since the end of the Second World War, it is being brought home in a visceral way, minute-by-minute, on Americans’ TV screens and cellphones.
The scope and intensity of the story has eroded the earlier hope harbored by Biden allies that he could use the speech to reset his political fortunes. Such a reset appears badly needed.
In a Washington Post-ABC News poll released this weekend, the president’s job performance earned the approval of just 37 percent of Americans and the disapproval of 55 percent. It was his lowest rating to date in that poll.
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https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/596230-the-memo-biden-speech-gets-wartime-overtone
