Biden’s biggest SOTU obstacles

The obstacle course facing President Biden this week during Thursday’s belated State of the Union address presents a formidable challenge. It may prove difficult for the 81-year-old president to navigate. Expectations could not be lower.  

Biden faces the usual challenges of exaggerating his paltry policy wins, justifying his substantial missteps and attacking his political opponents. But those questions may be overshadowed by more basic ones.  

Can he make it from start to finish gaffe-free? Will we be able to understand his words? Will this be one of the shortest addresses ever? Will he even be able to find his way off the stage? Keep in mind - if he has a "senior moment" this time, the Easter Bunny won’t be there to save him.

We need a commander in chief who can negotiate. In this case, negotiate the steps to the podium, a smaller teleprompter and staying awake after sundown. 

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But there are also very real questions about his ability to negotiate to avoid war in the Middle East, deescalate conflict in Ukraine, stop millions from pouring over our borders (including countless criminals), and preserve our access to affordable energy and health care.

Perhaps he pulls it off. But a two-minute video released on his X account in February raised eyebrows when readers identified at least 29 jump cuts. That raises the question: Can Biden still form coherent sentences in a live setting – and for how long? Will he ad-lib and start dishing out a Kamala Harris-style word salad?

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Despite vociferous assurances from press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre that he "passes a cognitive test every day," he likewise seems to generate new questions about his competence nearly as often.  

On Friday, Biden appeared confused in a bilateral meeting with the Italian prime minister, mixing up Ukraine and Gaza. His obvious cognitive decline is being lampooned around the world, including a recent viral skit from Italy.  

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The justification to elect President Biden was supposed to be his ability to work with Congress, where he served for decades. We were told he could bring the nation together, working with world leaders he claims he knows so well. But on all those fronts, after three years, President Biden has failed.

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No doubt Biden will predictably point blame at Republicans. He’ll take numerous shots at Donald Trump. That’s cheap, easy and definitely going to happen. It is an election year, after all.

But Biden's biggest obstacle will be his tenuous relationship with reality and truth. Gaslighting is his best hope.

Biden will claim a vibrant economy. But no matter what his manipulated statistics say, Americans know their own budgets. The economy is worse than it was with Trump, and Americans feel it in their wallets every day.

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Biden will blame climate change for everything, including the flood of illegal border crossings. Americans know that is not true. 

He will chastise Congress for lack of action, hoping Americans have forgotten that Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the White House during the first two years of his presidency.  

He will say democracy is under attack. But America is aware that Democrats are the ones trying to prohibit his opponent from even being on the ballot.

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Biden will use the best of what his speech writers have to offer. They will attempt bold verbal gymnastics to gaslight Americans about his Israel policies, his equity agenda, his open support of censorship and more. But it will all be at odds with truth and reality. And increasing numbers of Americans see it.

This simple regurgitation of the same Biden policies that have already failed us won’t move the needle in his favor. And despite his shouting mixed with occasional whispering, Americans will recognize that the guy first elected in 1972 is out of gas.