Thoughts on Dank Brandon’s talk last night
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Last night was the State of the Union, which over the decades has become a real political bellwether, a political ritual, a symbolic health-check of the administration politically, and a listing of accomplishments and future plans. It’s not an informative speech anymore, if it ever was.
It is Constitutionally required!
Article 2, Section 3
He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information of the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.
This says nothing about doing it after the new year, or at the start of each Congress, or even about it being one event that is a speech. It’s wild to think that what we have now is based on this requirement and really doesn’t understand the assignment. Annoyingly, it sort of goes beyond the requirements and shows off a bit too much.
In the video you can see my live reaction to the various things Joe Biden says and Sarah Huckabee Sanders as well. I thought I would write something up summarizing my views and maybe offering some more framing for how I feel, and I figure I should post this today right after the speech instead of on my normal Thursday posting time.
The State of the Union is a much more powerful phrase than we think. When the President speaks, he or she is stating the union, i.e. the Union is only a creation of discourse. We can read this not as a description of an extant reality of the “United States,” but a necessary utterance that continues the existence of the state, by being “stated.” Kenneth Burke: “Any selection of reality is a deflection of reality.” It is also a constitution of reality, pun intended.
That being said, the appeal of Biden and contemporary Democrats to the importance of “facts” really harmed the power of the speech last night. Instead of cadences that return to values or principles that can empower individuals go to speak to others in their daily lives about why they support or like President Biden, they just have fragments of weird policies that have been repeated by administration foot soldiers in the media today (“35 dollar insulin for seniors,” “quadruple tax buy backs,” etc). This doesn’t help get people to alter their attitudes; this raw material can be used to make any argument because they lack any “inertia” or emotional valence.
Biden could have constructed the entire speech around the importance of dignity, and the particular American tradition of upholding all types of dignity. This would have been a powerful value term that he could have returned to in every part of the speech. Cadence outweighs data.
Finally, Biden is a great speaker when he’s on script. Sadly he gets super into it and super confident and departs, and his well runs dry on tropes. He’s repetitive and old sounding when he’s off script (“Folks,” “Guess what,” etc). Sadly I learned finish the job is official messaging; whoever came up with that should be fired.
Here’s how Biden should have arranged it:
Exordium
New Congress, but same story – we always work together here to do what America does best – create and protect dignity.
I’ve been here more than anyone just about but tonight I am more optimistic than ever about what’s to come. (this was near the end but is definitely exordia stuff).
Through bipartisanship we can work to ensure American dignity economically, personally, and for the people of the world who want to live free.
Narratio
Each accomplishment should be phrased in terms of dignity.
infrastructure – the union steelworkers found jobs with dignity, and the infrastructure allows us to be proud of our country and have a strong economy that returns dignity to each family with money in the bank and food on the table.
instead, Biden did this:
There was a massive problem that was horrible
We (who is this we? Administration? Federal government? who?) passsed a law with a complicated long name
This law was revolutionary in size/scope/historical importance, etc. It’s one of a kind and never been done before
Simultaneously, this law is most loved because it contains common sense provisions that even those opposed to it love.
Here are three things it did
Now we need to finish the job
This is terrible compared to talking about what dignity means, giving some anecdotes, then talking about how a bill or policy serves dignity. Then we can return to that value and show how the policy delivered on american dignity. Then we can suggest where to go forward from there.
I saw it as three types: Economic, Individual, and International dignity
Economic: Infrastructure and jobs
Individual: Dobbs response, LBGTQ, COVID 19, Cancer research, and police brutality. The Tyree Nichols segment was very powerful and a great coda for this section. His stoic parents were a powerful symbolic proof.
International: Working with China, Helping Ukraine, and promoting democracy (shout out to Thomas Caruthers).
Partitio
“My administration has had remarkable success through unprecedented legistation that could have only been accomplished through bipartisan negotiation and differences. Coming to the table and working together to make sure all Americans are served properly, fairly, and with dignity is what my administration is about.”
Confirmatio
The evidence is for dignity – not billions of dollars where our eyes glaze over and we get data fatigue. Make cadence-driven arguments about the status of dignity, the vision for dignity, and what was done to help American dignity in that particular flavor. Then discuss ideas for what is coming next. Get the audience excited. Facts are not exciting. They are like cans of paint compared to a hung canvas. That’s the difference. Use the paint; make something!
Refutatio
Here’s where Dank Brandon came out – happy to make the speech an exchange with the hecklers. Did he mean to bait them? Was this part of the strategy? It sure looks like it. Marjorie Taylor Green and others will take the bait because they understand that supporters like what they do and detractors never will. So her shouting back at the President looks bad to those who are Democrats, and good to most Republicans.
There were some moments where he appealed to the elusive “They,” “They said it could never be done,” “it’s bad to bet against America,” and such. Overall probably the strongest section of the speech.
Peroration
Full of exordium material, this is where the people who had a cancer surviving kid and the others who lost someone to opioid addiction could have been used. “This is what we work to prevent; this little girl is America’s future. The solutions and policies here tonight are only a plan, and won’t be real unless we all work together toward making a better America, one where everyone can enjoy what this great country provides.”
These are just a few thoughts, let me know in the comments what you thought and please watch the video above!