A display of vigor and command

WASHINGTON — The call to action during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday — “Let’s finish the job” — would never be mistaken for soaring poetry. But perhaps that’s the point. In his speech, as throughout his first two years in office, Biden made a powerful case for governing in prose.

The president took advantage of the national television audience the speech always draws to make the case that his worldview has been proved correct: Even at a time of extreme polarization, bipartisanship is not only possible but also necessary. He said there is “no reason we can’t work together and find consensus in this Congress.”

Really? Did Biden hear the MAGA extremists who repeatedly heckled him, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA.), who yelled “Liar!” when the president said that some Republicans want to “sunset” Medicare and Social Security?

Oh, he heard them, all right. Biden came prepared for catcalls from far-right members of the new House majority. I wondered at times whether I was watching a State of the Union address or a raucous session of Prime Minister’s Questions in the British House of Commons. Rather than being rattled or angered by GOP outbursts, Biden seemed to relish them — at times, even to provoke them. And he tossed out an ample supply of folksy Bidenisms in response.

My favorite was when he praised the provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, approved last year, that capped the cost of insulin at $35 a month for seniors on Medicare. He called on Congress to “finish the job” and extend that cap for all Americans. When someone on the Republican side of the room remonstrated, Biden paused before departing from his script to reply: “As my football coach used to say, lots of luck in your senior year.”

Then he translated into standard English: If anyone tries to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, “I will veto it.”

Biden took the same playful approach when he challenged Republicans to spell out their economic plans and stop threatening to send the federal government into default by refusing to raise the debt ceiling. And while he was touting the benefits of the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill that he signed into law in 2021, he noted that some Republican members of Congress had voted against it. Nevertheless, he said, “I’ll see you at the groundbreaking.”