So these were the main points made by Biden in a very effective speech. He was all about workers and warriors. And, of course, the Democrats have suddenly noticed that Romney and Ryan neglected the warriors. I was right that Biden was worth keeping as the closest thing to a real guy on either ticket.
Obama is going through a lot of specific policies, which, of course, Romney forgot to do. He’s defending his record—aware that Romney neglected to attack much of it. He’s taking credit for victories in Iraq and Afghanistan and, of course, praising our warriors.
Not much real, though, about the economy or taxes etc. Nothing about Affordable Care being implemented. A laundry list that cleverly seems to be much more than it really is. A state of the union address of a president confident of his record!
I’m ending this post before the end of the speech—right now, he’s trumpeting his support for Israel’s security and resolute oppositon to Iranian nuclear ambitions. And now he’s mocking Romney’s blustering naivete on foreign policy and scoring prety well.
ADDITION: The speech ends with the thought that the rights protected by the Declaration need to be supplemented by a strong idea of citizenship. Standard progressive stuff and not very audacious. But also not very controversial and a non-trivial shot at a shortcoming of Romney’s rhetoric.
Overall, bump-worthy but hardly Obama’s best. Obvious criticism: It’s the sort of speech that would make better sense if the country weren’t it bad shape. But the new take is that things aren’t as bad as we think.
