Chicago-area voters offer mixed reactions to Biden's State of the Union speech

President Joe Biden painted an optimistic future for the country and made his case for a second term during his State of the Union address on Thursday, and some Chicago-area voters who spoke with the Sun-Times thought the speech set him up for reelection in the fall.

Biden was not afraid to take Republicans to task and often relished opportunities to take aim at them, something that impressed Jacob Drews, 19, an Oak Park resident and political science student at Columbia University in New York.

“I think he looks very strong,” Drews said. “Everyone’s always talking about his age, he’s unfit for office or he can’t give a speech, but there’s been very few gaffes.

“Overall, I think it’s a very good performance, and it’s putting to rest a lot of the things about his age. He clearly has the mental capacity to do this job,” Drews said.

Maria Bandriwsky, a Wicker Park resident who is on the board of the American Ukrainian Youth Association, applauded Biden for beginning his speech by calling for additional aid to Ukraine as its war with Russia has passed two years. She called it a “very strong message about Ukraine.

“We don’t want to have our soldiers to go out and put their lives at risk,” Bandriwsky said. “We want this war to be over as soon as possible, and it can be over if Ukraine receives this additional funding and if it receives the necessary weapons to stop the war.”

Bandriwsky added that Biden has “proved over and over again that he is capable” of remaining in office, “and that he can do what he says he will.”

Drews also thought Biden’s mentioning of the Jan. 6 insurrection was important “for voters to not forget that.”

“I know that was four years ago, and I know people say we’ve got to move on, but I think it’s very important to keep that in the conversation, and I’m glad he mentioned it,” said Drews, who said he planned to vote for Biden in the general election.

Erin Julseth, 56, of Geneva, said she also plans to vote for Biden but said it’s a choice of “the lesser of two evils.”

She thought Thursday’s speech did not necessarily help or hurt Biden’s case for reelection, but said he appeared to be “too old to be running for president.”

“I think we’re kind of just standing in the same position. There’s nothing about his speech as far as issues that I disagree with, but I think in his delivery that he’s just too old to be the next president,” Julseth said.

Biden promised to restore Roe v. Wade, which was reversed by the Supreme Court in 2022, ending the constitutional right to an abortion that has stood since 1973.

Marla, a Glenview resident who asked to only be identified by her first name, hailed Biden’s promise.

“I hope and pray that they can pass a bill to allow IVF to be across the land a law, so individual states can’t turn it down,” Marla said.

She added that Biden appeared to be forceful in his speech.

“He’s saying what I want to hear him say. I thought one of the comments he made, which was great, is, ‘You can’t love your country only when you win.’ I thought that was fabulous.”

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By Tony Arnold | WBEZ