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Biden’s SOTU should tout victories, call out Republicans, excite future voters

Northwestern professor weighs in on President Biden’s second State of the Union Address Feb. 7

President Biden will deliver his second State of the Union Address on Feb. 7.

Political scientist Alvin B. Tillery Jr., director of the Center of Diversity and Democracy at Northwestern University is available for comment on the speech. He can be reached at 847-467-4697 or by contacting Stephanie Kulke at stephanie.kulke@northwestern.edu.

Quote from Professor Tillery

“As President Biden gears up to deliver his second State of the Union Address, he clearly boasts one of the most successful midterm records of any modern president. Just to review, he can claim credit for repairing the NATO alliance and restoring America’s credibility around the world after his predecessor coddled dictators for four years. On the domestic side, there is no longer a need for “Infrastructure Week” in Washington, D.C., as the Democratic controlled 116th Congress passed a massive infrastructure bill to repair our nation’s roads, bridges and tunnels. Despite the media’s and Wall Street’s obsession with the inflationary cycle caused by Putin’s War in Ukraine and China’s “Zero Covid” policies, the American economy keeps adding jobs and Mr. Biden has reduced the national debt.

“President Biden should and will talk about all these things Tuesday. He should speak to what the Democrats have failed to do effectively over the last two years: directly confront the Republican “culture wars” tactics as grounded in racism, homophobia and misogyny. It is very likely that the Democrats lost the House because their #FundThePolice slogan aimed at capturing seats in places like Ohio and Florida suppressed the turnout of BIPOC voters across the country. Despite this fact, they still held the Senate and overperformed in House races. Mr. Biden has always seemed ahead of his party in terms of his embrace of the Gen Z electorate. I am hoping that he will signal in this speech that it is time for the party to get on board with the growing majority and message on their issues.”