President Biden's State of the Union speech was designed to set the stage for the 2024 presidential election. Of course,
the speech was aimed at American voters looking for a vision for the country and for the world,
with reassurances and warnings for our global allies and enemies.
But Tuesday's speech was designed primarily to pander to the country's political establishment, laying out the structure and style of Biden's campaign for a second term.
The intended audience was the Democratic Party establishment, the media, and especially his principal opponents,
both Democrats and Republican frontrunners. It has to consolidate financial and political support,
and to caution potential rivals such as Vice President Kamala Harris in the face of a national disapproval rating of nearly 52 percent (as well as 64 percent of Democrats who expect her not to run).