My surprising morning after Biden's State of the Union

The MoJo Daily newsletter, Monday through Friday. [View in browser]( [Support our nonprofit journalism]( [Mother Jones Daily Newsletter](     March 8, 2024 After duct-taping my eyelids open to stay up and watch the State of the Union last night, I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed. This was not expected. Years of watching political speeches have left me dead inside; each new one forces unwanted existential questions into my life. But maybe it's because Joe Biden—who used the address to highlight a progressive agenda and rigorously call out the poison that is Donald Trump—did not leave me panicking. In this climate, that might be enough to say that [he got the job done](. From my colleague David Corn, a [hero who stayed up past 1 a.m. ET]( to make sure that, come daylight, readers would be up to speed on the SOTU: Biden offered a stark definition of the choice in 2024. The other guy is all about anger and division, and he endangers democracy overseas and here. He is fixated on identifying and denouncing his enemies, rousing tribalistic ire, and amassing his own power. Biden presents himself as the guy who cares about the country as a whole and has a long to-do list for the benefit of many. And, perhaps best for Biden, at a time when questions about his age and capabilities have assumed a supersized role in the campaign, he showed he can fight. Now will it be enough to bring up his lagging poll numbers? We'll see. But at least Biden can ride into the weekend knowing that he met the challenge. Perhaps next time the president will personally drop the [dehumanizing language]( that his administration had [already officially moved beyond](. —Inae Oh Advertisement [House Donations Ad]( [Top Story] [Top Story]( [Joe Biden Got the Job Done]( In the State of the Union speech, he took it to Trump and showed he can fight. BY DAVID CORN SPONSORED CONTENT BY HEIFER INTERNATIONAL   Triple Your Impact With Heifer International! Your impact never goes unnoticed. That’s why Heifer International has a special matching gift opportunity for you. For a limited time, each donation you give will be matched, TRIPLING your impact! Your gift will make THREE times the difference and change THREE times the lives of families in need. [Triple your gift here.]( [Trending] [Lara Trump is all about meritocracy]( TEXT BY STEPHANIE MENCIMER, VIDEO BY SAM VAN PYKEREN   [Climate disasters are leaving some poor nations in a crushing cycle of debt]( BY KATIE SURMA   [On the front lines of UAW’s historic strike]( BY SYLVIA JARRUS   [What if everything we are told to think about periods is wrong?]( BY MADDIE OATMAN Advertisement [House Subscriptions Ad]( [Special Feature] [Special Feature]( [Can American labor seize the moment?]( Unions are popular but facing decades of decline. We asked photographers to document this unique moment for the American worker. BY HAMILTON NOLAN MOTHER JONES MEMBERSHIP UPDATE   An important update on our finances We’re falling behind our online fundraising goals—and we can’t sustain coming up short on [donations]( month after month. It is [impossibly hard]( in the news business right now, and the [crisis]( facing journalism and democracy isn’t going away anytime soon. Neither is Mother Jones. Which is exactly why, despite the challenges we face, we just took a big gulp and [joined forces]( with the Center for Investigative Reporting, which creates the amazing podcast and public radio show [Reveal]( and other investigative projects. It’s going to be hard making it all work, and we simply can’t afford to fall behind our fundraising targets month after month. If you can part with even just a few bucks, [please support Mother Jones and investigative journalism with an urgently needed donation today](. And thank you so much to everyone who recently has. We’re grateful. [Donate]( Did you enjoy this newsletter? Help us out by [forwarding]( it to a friend or sharing it on [Facebook]( and [Twitter](. [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755