The State of the Union doesn’t matter and has never mattered. This is a truism, and with good reason: One way or another everything said at these speeches is forgotten 24 hours later. (One exception: People of my generation and older still remember South Carolina Representative Joe Wilson shouting “You lie!” -- rudely but accurately -- at Barack Obama’s various outright prevarications about his plans for Obamacare.) I remember the last time people insisted a State of the Union address was a “make or break” moment for a president: March of 2024, when Democrats managed to convince themselves that Joe ...

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