President Joe Biden is slated to deliver his State of the Union Address Tuesday evening, the annual public message the president gives on the nation's status.
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This year, it's likely Biden will focus his message on the economy and the pandemic, as well as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, KCBS Radio Political Analyst Marc Sandalow predicted Tuesday morning with KCBS Radio's Holly Quan and Jason Brooks.
"He has an easier task than he did two weeks ago," said Sandalow, when the economy and the pandemic were the big topics Biden needed to tackle.
While it could be argued that despite the pandemic still waging on and the economy not doing so well, the country has made significant progress, many are likely to think that someone besides Biden could have done a better job, said Sandalow.
But focusing instead on the United States' response to Russia has likely taken precedent.
"I think that speech has been pretty much torn apart and the focus tonight, I would imagine, will be on Russia’s action in Ukraine," he said.
A wartime State of the Union is nothing new, but it is unusual for it to be about a war the United States is not directly involved in.
"The United States is not a part of this war, it's neither the attacked nor the aggressor here," he said. "It gives the president an opportunity to try to make a case that he's made for his entire campaign for president and since he's been president – that the world faces this stark choice between authoritative regimes and democratically run governments."
While it seems simple to stand united against a leader like Vladimir Putin, it hasn’t always been so easy to have those in the United States stand up for democratic ideals in their own country.
Biden is likely to make this argument in his address without mentioning former President Donald Trump, said Sandalow.
"He has to be careful not to make it too political," he said. Even though it would certainly be easy to call out Trump and other officials who've been friendly with Putin in the past, it could divide things even further, he said.
"What he needs to do is pull on communal American values," said Sandalow. This issue is something that actually unites Biden with conservative leaders like Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and House of Representatives Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.
It could even go so far as to unite the country, he said.
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