President Joe Biden, running for reelection

President Joe Biden announced his reelection campaign for 2024 in a video yesterday, that was remarkable for its theme of freedom. As we have written about repeatedly, “freedom” is a word and an idea that Republicans have tried to claim for themselves. Since it is such a bedrock American concept, we have been saying since 2013 that it would be a great idea if Democrats took “freedom” back from the Republicans. We were very heartened last year when President Biden and a number of Democrats did exactly that, running or supporting Democratic 2022 midterm election campaigns by stating that “freedom is on the ballot,” and mentioning “freedom from gun violence,” “freedom of health care choices” (including, of course, abortion) and “freedom to vote” as three specific examples.

Likewise, President Biden’s new ad (which includes Vice President Kamala Harris) starts off with “freedom” as the very first word, and continues, largely in Biden’s own voice, to talk about “personal freedom” being “fundamental to who we are as Americans.” The ad goes on to explain that “MAGA Republicans” are threatening our freedoms, by attempting to cut our Social Security, “dictating what health care decisions women can make (again, an obvious reference to abortion), banning books, and telling people who they can love, all while making it more difficult for you to be able to vote.” The ad asks voters to support President Biden so that he can “finish the job” of protecting these fundamental freedoms.

The ad is very effective, not only in flipping the script on the Republicans over “freedom,” but also grabbing the theme of patriotism, and attacking Republican hypocrisy over their claims of being for “smaller government” as they try to invade Americans’ doctor offices, bedrooms and bathrooms, in Florida and elsewhere.

All in all, President Biden’s campaign announcement ad is a welcome opening salvo in what promises to be a major battle of ideologies between the pro-freedom Democrats and the pro-fascism Republicans for 2024.

Photo by Maryland GovPics, used under Creative Commons license. https://is.gd/Jpa2HA

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

Donald Trump has already announced that he is running for president in the 2024 elections. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis seems hot on Trump’s heels, scheduling trips to early primary states Iowa, Nevada and New Hampshire, and otherwise looking like he will announce his presidential candidacy any day now. The possibility of a messy primary battle between them (and announced candidate Nimrata Randhawa a/k/a Nikki Haley, as well as other likely candidates, such as Mike Pence and Richard Pompeo) has some in the political press salivating over the potential for big ratings and readership. Democrats should also celebrate the possibility of a destructive Republican primary campaign.

As we’ve mentioned many times, the Republican Party is in a state of civil war. Sometimes the war is more hidden, and and other times it spills out into the open. In this case, Trump and DeSantis might have a few ideological differences, as can be expected. However, both Trump and DeSantis specialize in a fascist, dictatorial approach. For example, while Trump was in the White House, his press conferences were full of attacks on the (non-right wing) press. And in the ultimate wannabe dictator move, when Trump lost the 2020 election, he concocted the “Big Lie” that the election was stolen from him, and incited an insurrection against the U.S. Capitol to stop and reverse the counting of electoral votes that would certify Joe Biden as president.

President Joe Biden

President Joe Biden once again rose to the occasion and gave an extremely effective State of the Union speech last night. But what was so successful, and perhaps unexpected, is the way Biden took apart the Republicans. The President did this in a deft, almost surgical way, alternating between touting his impressive accomplishments, pushing his Democratic agenda (something we have advocated here since Day One), and co-opting pro-American ideas that the Republicans falsely try to claim that they promote. Essentially, Biden set a trap for the GOP.

Most reviews and many posts and comments about last night’s State of the Union speech seem to focus on the ugly outbursts from a small number of House Republicans in the audience. That’s just what those attention-seekers want. Instead, a good exercise is to avoid the videos of President Biden’s speech (too late if you already watched it last night, of course), and read the transcript in the second link above. What you get is an impressive picture of patriotism, an appeal to unity, and some good sharp contrasts with the Republicans. Here are some memorable lines and passages from the speech, which paint a clear picture of what President Biden accomplished: