The State(s) of the Union

March 2, 2022

Yesterday, President Joe Biden held his State of the Union address. And since 1966, the opposing party has also provided a response to the State of the Union address. This year, the response was delivered by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. Together, these speeches provide a unique window into how each party views our world, within their own terms.

It’s easy to dismiss the other side’s speech as disingenuous, ignorant, or insincere. But, when we listen to them with the intention to learn, these speeches can be an excellent opportunity to get to know the people who disagree with you, and why they see things differently. Understanding their view probably won’t change your mind — nor should it, since we see the world the way we do for good reason. But when we approach these speeches with the intention to understand instead of criticize, we can identify our own blindspots and briefly see the world from the other side’s perspective. 

Keep in mind that the positions expressed in these speeches don’t represent the entirety of either party. Both have vast ideological diversity (in fact, Rep. Rashida Tlaib delivered an address for the Working Families wing of the Democratic party after Biden’s). And although it’s a safe guess that these speeches were crafted in a political communications lab, there’s still a lot to be learned from them — after all, those labs crafted the message to resonate with the public. 

Most of us made up our minds about Biden and Reynolds’ speeches before either opened their mouths. But listening to these speeches with an open mind is a healthy exercise to consider how your ideas about the other party might shift if you took them at their word.

What each side talked about

Below, we outline the main themes in Biden and Reynolds’ speeches within each speaker’s own terms. If we temporarily set aside our own view and step into the shoes of our contra-partisans, do their priorities make sense?

The beginning of President Biden’s hour-long speech focused on the struggle between democracies and autocracies around the world, and the United States’ unwavering support for the Ukrainian people’s opposition to tyranny, which received support from members of both parties. 

Democratic politicians are working tirelessly to support the American people by promoting legislation that decreases the cost for everyday necessities such as prescription drugs and childcare, while Republicans focus their efforts on supporting the wealthy.

We’ve broken down other prominent topics from the speech in the graphics below.

The main focus of Governor Reynolds’ 15-minute speech was on Democrats’ failure to address the major issues the American people are facing. Democrats have created an unnecessarily complex and invasive government and spend excessively on things that don’t help (or even hurt) everyday Americans. 

Republican politicians are actively listening to the people and addressing the issues Americans are facing, by focusing on empowering parents in schools, lowering taxes, and letting people make their own decisions. 

We’ve broken down other prominent topics from the speech in the graphics below.

The beginning of President Biden’s hour-long speech focused on the struggle between democracies and autocracies around the world, and the United States’ unwavering support for the Ukrainian people’s opposition to tyranny, which received support from members of both parties. 

Democratic politicians work tirelessly to support the American people by promoting legislation that decreases the cost for everyday necessities such as prescription drugs and childcare, while Republicans focus their efforts on supporting the wealthy.

We’ve broken down other prominent topics from the speech in the graphics below.

The main focus of Governor Reynolds’ 15-minute speech was on Democrats’ failure to address the major issues the American people are facing. Democrats have created an unnecessarily complex and invasive government and spend excessively on things that don’t help (or even hurt) everyday Americans. 

Republican politicians are actively listening to the people and addressing the issues Americans are facing, by focusing on empowering parents in schools, lowering taxes, and letting people make their own decisions. 

We’ve broken down other prominent topics from the speech in the graphics below.

While the division between Democrats and Republicans can seem immeasurable, they both expressed the same goal: to serve the American people. But with different values and worldviews, their approach for how to reach that goal differ. Neither party expressed evil intentions, and instead exhibited a desire to lift up the American people in a way consistent with the values they hold dear. 

In a country as diverse as America, it’s natural that we don’t all agree on everything. But just because we don’t agree doesn’t mean that our contra partisans are brainwashed, ignorant, stupid, or evil. They just have different values than we do, and that’s okay.

Confirmation bias in how we perceive reality

After looking at the content of these speeches, it’s pretty obvious that each side is focusing on the victories and struggles that make them look good, and make the other side look bad. 

Our brains are confirmation machines — they are programmed to look for patterns in order to distinguish between chair and floor, wind and predator, them and us. This means that when we read news stories throughout the year, we’re more likely to remember a story that makes sense to us (my side is did something right; their side messed something up), and less likely to remember a story that instinctively felt off (my side wouldn’t mess something up; their side wouldn’t do something right).

If we look at what topics each side talked about (and how they talked about them) with the intention to learn, it’s a little easier to see how someone with a different background or set of experiences could see the state of the union so differently.

What do you think? Do you agree with one side, or do you fall somewhere in between? Give us feedback on TwitterInstagram, and Facebook, or by emailing info@narrativesproject.com.