It was not a distinguished speech rhetorically. It was repetitious, overusing the clash of direct opposites (democracy not autocracy etc.), and missing opportunities for more memorable language ("dagger at the throat of America" is less direct and familiar, and therefore less powerful that "knife at the throat of America.") "Inflection point" is a fashionable expression that even President Obama couldn't resist. But I doubt it communicates forcefully to the general public. I'm also not sure if it's what he really meant. An inflection point, outside of math, is a turning point or a pivot point. But that means a change in a certain direction. Did he mean that, or a point in which things could go either way--a decisive point, or point of decision? Politically, "we're at the point of decision" between (yes) democracy and autocracy (dictatorship is better) seems more appropriate and powerful.
And while I'm in the communication weeds, my own response is that Biden behind a podium, shot straight on from a distance, is not to his best advantage. He seems better to me when the camera is closer, or when he is standing without a podium, talking person to person. I miss the intimacy of those White House talks all Presidents used to give, seated at their desk in the Oval Office.
But in this speech Biden covered the ground he needed to cover. He was especially good in placing the attack in the context of American history. He also made the point that I recall making here just after the election that Trump's minions disputed that Trump lost, but not that Republicans elected on the same ballot won. He was forthright in condemning Trump, and identifying the Republicans party as dangerous to American democracy, now and for the future.
There was speculation about why Biden hadn't talked like this sooner. I expect it was part of the plan to work for Republican votes on the infrastructure part of the Build Back bill, ultimately separated from it and passed--with Republican votes. The pivot to voting rights was always going to be made--although the process of getting that early huge legislation took longer (and a large part of it still hasn't been passed, thanks to Senator Joe Mansion.)
Meanwhile, Republicans regressed to abject fealty to Homegrown Hitler in a way that nobody predicted. The only strategy left to get Republican votes for voting rights is shaming them, and confronting them. Shaming hasn't worked so far, but confronting them could shake things up, since so many of them are cowards. Congress may even get serious about clarifying rules to prevent the kind of direct reversing of election results either by Congress or in the states that Trump wanted.
Otherwise, we should expect to see some hardball--some momentum behind efforts to call the perpetrators to account, including criminal charges, and confrontation over filibuster rules in the US Senate. We'll see if all of this is more than words in the coming days and weeks.
But President Biden's speech alone puts pressure on the courts, especially the Supreme Court, to defend the Constitution. None of it may work. But by the time it's over, everyone involved will have to own up. Politicians, like other rich and privileged, always have somewhere to hide. But their options will shrink. Come November, the choices should be pretty clear.
In fact, they should be clear now on the state and local level, where traditional Republicans could join in resisting the Trumpian candidates who want to manipulate elections for El Duce. It was Republican officeholders that guarded election integrity in several key states in 2020, though most of them will be gone by 2022. How quickly voters become aware of the dangers of letting election subversives take over voting rules and vote counting may be decisive.
So far, at least some of the fears broadcast last year have not been fully realized. Indications are that partisan gerrymandering in the states hasn't changed things much, at least for the next few elections. And the scary poll numbers being widely publicized, of the high proportion of Republicans who say that the election was stolen, and that violence may be necessary, etc. are basically a majority or near majority of a small minority, little more than a third of the potential electorate. Getting the majority to vote, and making sure they can vote, and that their votes will count, is the task ahead. President Biden's speech, and presumably the continued repetition of its main points, should aid in motivating those voters.
That leaves the battle for voting rights at the federal and state level, and again President Biden's speech begins to make the case for why this is so crucial. Because there is a knife at the throat of American democracy.
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