What a Second Biden Term Would Look Like
President Biden gave a raucous State of the Union speech last Thursday, offering his pitch for why he should be president for a second term. It\u2019s the clearest picture we have yet of Biden\u2019s campaign message for 2024. But while he listed off all kinds of proposals, it\u2019s not as easy to parse what a second Biden term might actually look like. So I sat down with my editor Aaron Retica, who had a lot of questions for me about the speech itself and what Biden would be likely to accomplish if he got another four years in the job.\n\nWe discuss how my argument for Biden to step aside holds up after he gave such a deft, high-energy performance; what a second Biden administration would likely do when it comes to abortion rights and foreign policy; the issues that didn\u2019t receive much attention in the speech but would likely play a huge role in a second Biden term; the strongest 2024 campaign message that I\u2019ve heard so far; and whether this is a Locke election or a Hobbes election \u2014 and what that means.\n\nBook Recommendations:\n\nTip O'Neill and the Democratic Century by John A. Farrell\n\nA Nation Without Borders by Steven Hahn\n\nThe Field of Blood by Joanne B. Freeman\n\nThoughts? Guest suggestions? Email us at ezrakleinshow@nytimes.com.\n\nYou can find transcripts (posted midday) and more episodes of \u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\u201d at nytimes.com/ezra-klein-podcast. Book recommendations from all our guests are listed at https://www.nytimes.com/article/ezra-klein-show-book-recs.\n\nThis episode of \u201cThe Ezra Klein Show\u201d was produced by Rollin Hu. Fact checking by Michelle Harris, with Kate Sinclair and Mary Marge Locker. Our senior engineer is Jeff Geld, with additional mixing from Efim Shapiro. Our senior editor is Claire Gordon. The show\u2019s production team also includes Annie Galvin and Kristin Lin. Original music by Isaac Jones. Audience strategy by Kristina Samulewski and Shannon Busta. The executive producer of New York Times Opinion Audio is Annie-Rose Strasser. Special thanks to Sonia Herrero.