Biden Prepares for State of the Union Speech, plans to call for bipartisanship

President plans to call for bipartisanship as GOP criticizes his policies.

President Biden will give the State of the Union address before a newly divided Congress on Tuesday, hoping to build off positive economic signs but facing fresh tensions with China and the lingering war in Ukraine.

Following the speech, Mr. Biden will travel on Wednesday to Wisconsin, a 2024 presidential battleground, and tout union jobs during a visit to Madison. On Thursday he is scheduled to visit Florida—the home of two potential 2024 GOP rivals, former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis—to highlight plans to strengthen Social Security and Medicare and reduce healthcare costs, the White House said. On Friday he will discuss his economic agenda with the nation’s governors and meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Mr. Biden on Tuesday night is expected to talk up legislative accomplishments and ways of moving his agenda forward while calling on Democrats and Republicans to find common ground.

The president will likely point to low unemployment and signs of easing inflation, while seeking to reassure the public amid fears of a recession, administration officials said. One of his major wins of the first two years was passage of a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, and Mr. Biden has been traveling the country to spotlight projects that will receive funding. White House advisers are counting on such events to provide momentum as Mr. Biden moves toward an expected re-election bid.

Patrick Gaspard, president and chief executive officer of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, cited as grist for the State of the Union speech Friday’s jobs report, …“the numbers don’t lie”.

Republican Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire countered on ABC News’ “This Week” that Mr. Biden would try to “take credit for all of this stuff. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter about the speech” because inflation had reached decades-high levels.

“Go into a grocery store and just talk to people in the cereal aisle,” he said. “Do they feel confident about this leadership…no.”

A Washington Post-ABC News poll published Sunday illustrated the challenge facing Mr. Biden and Democrats. Forty-two percent of voters overall approve of his handling of the presidency while 53% disapprove—numbers that have barely budged over the past several months. On economic performance, 37% of voters approve and 58% disapprove, the poll showed. And 41% said they are not as well off financially as they were when Mr. Biden took office, with 16% saying they are better off.

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