They need momentum behind Biden.
Ron Klain, White House Chief of Staff, had some encouraging words for Senate Democrats, promising that President Biden would be delivering an inspiring and uplifting State of the Union. Klain also revealed that Biden’s State of the Union address would focus on his efforts to fight Covid-19 and rising inflation.
By addressing the Senate Democratic caucus in person, it appeared Klain was looking to give Senators something positive to concentrate on in an effort to steer the direction of conversation away from Biden’s dismal polling numbers.
According to a report by The Hill, Klain made no comments in his address about Biden’s falling polling numbers in battleground states, states that will determine if Democrats remain in control in the Senate in 2023.
Instead, Klain centered his speech around what Biden would say at next month’s joint session of Congress, highlighting that the President would extol his accomplishments in 2021 while expressing a clear agenda for the year ahead.
The positive conversation included no major claims as it seemed Klain was avoiding making headlines ahead of Biden’s March 1 address.
But concerned Democratic centrists were largely unimpressed, hoping Klain would focus on Biden’s polling numbers in battleground states, like Pennsylvania, where the President had only received a 32% positive rating from registered voters according to a poll by October Franklin & Marshall.
Senator Jon Tester (D-MT.) had said before the meeting that he wanted Klain to “bring up” concerning poll numbers, which could spell trouble for Democrats in this year’s midterm elections.
Klain didn’t bring it up. According to several Senators, he tried to pump up Democrats about his predictions that Biden would give a glowing report at the State of the Union.
Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.) said Democrats recognize that the State of the Union address is “one of the main opportunities of the year to get the attention of the American people,” adding that it was a “chance to get a greater audience and greater support among the American people.”
After the meeting, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said the President would “have some clear initiatives… on Covid, cost of living, crime, the essential challenges looking forward,” he added that the initiatives would “really tackle these problems.”
