Biden brings midterm cover to Democrats' pitch: The Note

The TAKE with Rick Klein

It's not something the White House is likely to own. But one remarkable thread of President Joe Biden's State of the Union address Tuesday night were the instances when the president almost -- almost -- sounded like a Republican.

His suggestion that "we should all agree" not to "defund the police" was, of course, only relevant for some of his fellow Democrats. His statement that "we need to secure the border and fix the immigration system" drew notable applause from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

And Biden's message on COVID-19 -- "end the shutdown of schools and businesses," "get back to work and fill our great downtowns again," "our kids need to be in school" -- was practically borrowed from some of his harshest GOP critics, who argue that the Biden administration is still taking too long to wind down restrictions.

With the president taking his message to the road on Wednesday as he visits battleground Wisconsin, the seeds of a recalibration for Democrats are being planted.

The speech included plenty of things for conservatives to hate and progressives to cherish. And there's no mistaking even the president's diminished agenda for something any major GOP candidate would come close to endorsing.

Still, Biden's return to his old roots closer to the political center could be welcomed by some Democrats on the front lines of protecting the party's majorities.

The RUNDOWN with Averi Harper

President Biden's State of the Union Address emphasized unity but drew multiple response speeches, several from within the president's own party -- an unusual happening that illustrates intraparty divisions.

The Republican response from Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds homed in on inflation, crime and foreign policy with references to cultural conflicts, like pandemic-related precautions and "critical race theory" that energize the Republican base.

"Republicans believe that parents matter. It was true before the pandemic and has never been more important to say out loud: Parents Matter," said Reynolds.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., offered a response from the Working Families Party. In a nod to the high-stakes elections approaching in November, Tlaib called for Americans to elect more progressive candidates while pointing to the fact that progressives supported Biden's dead Build Back Better social spending plan.

"No one fought harder for President Biden's agenda than progressives," Tlaib said. "But two forces stood in the way: A Republican Party that serves only the rich and powerful, and just enough corporate-backed Democratic obstructionists to help them succeed."

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, spoke alongside his colleague Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., giving a centrist perspective on crime and praising Biden's call to "fund the police." Rep. Colin Allred, D-Texas, also delivered remarks on behalf of the Congressional Black Caucus, praising Biden's SCOTUS pick Ketanji Brown Jackson and speaking to how Biden's accomplishments have impacted African Americans.

The TIP with Alisa Wiersema

Despite taking place in the backdrop of a major presidential address and an evolving global conflict, Texas' primaries largely played out as expected following a dramatic campaign season.

The top-billed statewide race for the governorship predictably resulted in the most high-profile candidates coming out on top -- Republican incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott and former Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke. It now remains to be seen whether O'Rourke can reignite the urgency Democrats felt during his 2018 Senate bid, and whether his national name recognition hurts or benefits his political trajectory heading into November.

Following months of intraparty mudslinging, the Republican primary for Texas' attorney general is heading to a runoff between incumbent Ken Paxton and the state’s land commissioner, George P. Bush, who bucked his family's public rejection of former President Donald Trump throughout the primary. Paxton ultimately received Trump's backing, setting up a tricky landscape for Bush to navigate going forward.

Across the aisle, Democrats also have a major runoff on the horizon in Texas' 28th congressional district. The race will feature a third faceoff between progressive Jessica Cisneros and incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar. In 2020, Cisneros trailed Cuellar by just under 3,000 votes, and the upcoming runoff is likely to give progressives newfound momentum to rally supporters both in Texas, and in similar races across the country.

NUMBER OF THE DAY, powered by FiveThirtyEight

8. That’s the number of GOP candidates in Texas running for governor or the U.S. House of Representatives that FiveThirtyEight was able to identify as publicly having said President Biden won the 2020 election. To be sure, many of the Republicans running on Tuesday night (68) didn’t take a public stance on the 2020 election, and it’s not entirely clear what effect this had on tonight’s elections. That is, Republicans who came out in support of Biden by voting to certify the 2020 election results did well (save Rep. Van Taylor, R-Texas, whose race was still too close to call as of 1 a.m. ET), but so did many of the Republicans who voted against it. In fact, every Republican incumbent who voted against certifying the 2020 election results in the House handily won renomination or looked to be on their way in a couple of uncalled races. For more analysis on what went down in Texas' primaries check out FiveThirtyEight’s live blog.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. Start Here begins Wednesday morning with highlights from President Biden's state of the union address. Then, ABC's Ian Pannell is in Kyiv with new reporting on the Russian invasion. And, Sports Illustrated's Emma Baccellieri on what MLB's labor negotiations say about the broader market. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

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