Joe Biden To Call For Unity In State Of The Union Before Divided Congress; Plans Post-Speech Media & Heartland Blitz But Silent On Super Bowl Sit-Down

deadline.com:

With a potential showdown looming over raising the debt ceiling, President Joe Biden plans to use part of his State of the Union speech tonight as a call for unity. “To my Republican friends, if we could work together in the last Congress, there is no reason we can’t work together in this new Congress,” Biden plans to say, according to remarks released by the White House. “The people sent us a clear message.

Fighting for the sake of fighting, power for the sake of power, conflict for the sake of conflict gets us nowhere.” The comments are out of a typical SOTU playbook, but they take on new resonance amid concerns that a protracted standoff over the debt limit could rattle markets and send the economy into a nosedive.

Biden met with new House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) last week, as Republicans are demanding spending cuts, as yet undefined, before raising the ceiling again.

Democrats don’t want conditions attached to raising the debt limit as a way to pay back spending that has already been incurred. RELATED: Inside The Capitol During The Dramatic, Dysfunctional And “Deliberative” Moments That Led To Kevin McCarthy Winning The House Speakership Much of tonight’s speech is expected to be devoted to the administration’s accomplishments, as Biden is bolstered by a recent blockbuster jobs report.  “Jobs are coming back, pride is coming back because of the choices we made in the last two years,” Biden plans to say, according to the released remarks. “This is a blue-collar blueprint to rebuild America and make a real difference in your lives.” He also plans to declare that “Covid no longer controls our lives” and that democracy “remains unbowed and unbroken.” The latter is a reference to the January 6th attack on the