This was a president with six months left in office, and yet, it was a farewell address in all but name.
It felt odd, entirely in keeping with the denouement of Joe Biden‘s demise – a president dragged kicking and screaming to the exit.
The set-piece address was given the Oval Office treatment, normally reserved for times of national crisis.
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‘Like a farewell address, with six months to go’
Legacy was laced through it, a self-penned narrative to shore up a reputation.
The president talked through his achievements in office and laid out a platform for electability.
It was the “defence of democracy” campaign script that belongs to someone else now – Biden borrowed it to emphasise self-sacrifice.
The 11-minute speech was an awkward fit on prime-time TV, like watching a tired old classic when politics had moved on.
Joe Biden pauses before he addresses the nation from the Oval Office on Wednesday. Pic: Reuters
There were no bad stumbles as he read the autocue but he lacked vitality.
A Democratic campaign shifting through the gears suddenly felt like it was towing a caravan once more.
Biden’s pledge that he will participate in the election campaign will have party strategists shuffling their feet.
So will his intention to serve another six months in the Oval Office.
As much as he wants to sell his record in government, for the good of himself and his successor, it’s got ‘lame duck’ written all over it.
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It’s not just Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looking beyond Biden for who they’ll be doing business with long term.
Biden wants progress on Middle East peace to form part of his legacy but Netanyahu will wonder about the durability of any agreement with a ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ president.
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President Biden’s short-term status risks undermining his authority in office and on the campaign trail.
There’s a reason there’s relief and excitement in the Democratic Party following the change at the top of the ticket – they watched it on prime-time TV.