Charles Milliken: State of disunion speeches

I had originally not planned on making any remarks on the State of the Union speech, since by the time you read this nine days will have elapsed, rendering the SOTU speech as dated as yesterday's newspaper lining the bottom of the birdcage. But there was something unusual this year, booth in the speech and the official Republican response, that I think is worthy of comment.

President Biden’s remarks, I thought, were especially strident and extremely negative. For a man who had promised to unite Americans, there was precious little in terms of a unity message. Hardly surprising, given the tone of the past three years. Essentially Republicans, and especially Donald Trump, are not seen as the loyal opposition, but as enemies. Also, not surprisingly, when the other party and its supporters are vilified personally as extremists, deplorables, potentially white terrorists, and such like, the response is not kind and gentle. This does not bode well for this election cycle, and the nation going forward.

The junior senator from Alabama, Katie Britt, was selected to give the official response to President Biden’s remarks. Sen. Britt has been lauded as a rising star in GOP ranks — one of several Republican women who have shown the ability to articulate a conservative message, compile an excellent record of accomplishment, are young in contrast to the reigning gerontocracy, and, what should never be overlooked in politics, are physically attractive. JFK, among others, made that characteristic manifestly clear.

Then disaster struck. I have no idea who exactly decided she’d be the best choice for a response. Her rising star has been converted into a shooting star, and we all know what happens to shooting stars: burned to a cinder! In case you haven’t seen her remarks, please don’t. The actual text isn’t all that bad — not all that good, either — but the setting and delivery, as many have noted, is self-parodying.

I’d like to know who advised her, who vetted the remarks before delivery, who decided an empty kitchen is a great place to deliver what should be important remarks, and who coached or encouraged her to make a dramatic performance out of the whole thing. I’m a lifelong Republican, as you, my faithful readers already know, but this was an embarrassment.

For better or worse, I like to think of Republicans as sober, thoughtful, and reasoned in their public remarks. (Yes — you need not remind me of President Trump’s failure to adhere to that standard, but then he is neither a lifelong Republican, nor an exemplar of business as usual. Sometimes you need to be a bull in a china shop.)

I understand that the GOP is underwater with women voters. It almost always is. Therefore put a woman in a kitchen and talk to women. The problem is women are no longer aspiring to hang out in kitchens. Times have changed. Having a successful woman in politics talk to other women is fine, but the venue, if I were running the prep, would have been an office. Senator Britt would have been surrounded by symbols of her status as a Senator. The delivery should have been forceful, while avoiding the nastiness that preceded it. Furthermore, for goodness sake, don’t speak like you’re acting in a soap opera.

Some had been mentioning the Senator as a possible VEEP pick for Trump. I think such talk can now be safely put to rest. If he wants a young, accomplished, articulate, conservative (and attractive) woman on his ticket, I think the stock of the governor of South Dakota, Kristi Noem, has just gone up several points.

I do not think the results this November will hinge on these recent remarks. Immigration, inflation, the state of the economy, abortion, climate change and its myriad restrictions, education, and foreign policy will weigh more heavily on most voters' minds than style and appearance. But the GOP, if it expects to prevail, should remember in a close election, as this promises to be, style and appearance, and presentation in general, do matter.

With respect to those in charge of Sen. Britt’s remarks, President Trump needs to say, “You’re fired!”

— Charles Milliken is a professor emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Charles Milliken: State of disunion speeches