Going into the evening, I think many viewers expected to hear something like a campaign speech from Biden, and that’s what he delivered. While he did ask Congress to pass a bipartisan immigration bill and spent time on other policy issues like abortion, housing and foreign policy, it was less a policy laundry list than most State of the Union speeches.

He worked to paint himself as a brighter, more forward-thinking choice than Trump, whom he only referred to as “my predecessor.” As my ABC News colleagues reported, Biden talked about his history in politics and tackled the issue of his age head on, but the end of his speech was about his hope for the future.

By comparison, Alabama Sen. Katie Britt’s Republican response to the speech was bleak and painted a dark picture of the country, especially at the southern border.

It echoed Trump’s "American carnage" inaugural address, though Britt avoided mentioning the former president by name.

That's a good preview of how the presidential race is likely to unfold: Republicans will paint Biden as a failure who has presided over a U.S. in decline, while Biden will work to focus attention on the progress he feels his administration has made and can continue to make.

-Monica Potts, 538

Senator Katie Britt called out Biden's age in her State of the Union response, saying, "The free world deserves better than a dithering and diminished leader."

"America deserves leaders who recognize that secure borders, stable prices, safe streets and a strong defense are actually the cornerstones of a great nation," Britt said.

The Alabama Senator called on the Nation to reflect on Biden's last three years in office.

"Just ask yourself, are you better off now than you were three years ago?" Britt questioned. "There is no doubt we are at a crossroads and it doesn't have to be this way."

Closing her response, Britt called on voters to "reawaken the heroic spirit of great nation" and shared hope for the future.

"America, we don't just have a rendezvous with destiny. We take destiny's hand and we lead it," Britt said. "I believe with every fiber of my being, that despite the current state of our union, our best days are still ahead."

In her response to Biden's State of the Union address, Senator Katie Britt called out the President for the strife of families across the Nation, saying, "The American dream has turned into a nightmare for so many families."

Britt used her personal experience as an example in her response, "My American dream allowed me, the daughter of two small business owners from rural enterprise Alabama, to be elected to the United States senate at the age of 40."

"The country we know and love seems to be slipping away and it feels like the next generation will have fewer opportunities and less freedoms than we did," Britt continued.

"The true, unvarnished state of our union begins and ends with this: our families are hurting. Our country can do better," Britt said.

17:30

Sen. Katie Britt gives Republican response to Biden's State of the Union

Sen. Katie Britt called Biden's border policies over the past three years a "disgrace" and "senseless."

"This crisis is despicable. And the truth is, it is almost entirely preventable," she said. "From fentanyl poisonings to horrific murders, there are empty chairs tonight at kitchen tables just like this one."

Britt mentioned Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student who was killed last month on the University of Georgia's campus. The suspect in her murder is a Venezuelan migrant whom officials say was illegally in the U.S.

"She was brutally murdered by one of the millions of illegal border crossers President Biden chose to release into our homeland," Britt said. "Y’all, as a mom, I can't quit thinking about this. I mean, this could have been my daughter. This could have been yours. And tonight, President Biden finally said her name, but he refused to take responsibility for his own actions."

Hi, I’m Monica Potts, a senior political reporter at 538. I’ll be watching the State of the Union and helping provide analysis and commentary about some of the themes from Biden’s speech. I’ll be especially interested in what he has to say about abortion, foreign policy, democracy and the economy. As my ABC News colleagues have noted, the night is really a sort of campaign kickoff event, and how he frames those issues could preview how he plans to talk about them with voters.

I’ll be able to provide context on how voters think about those issues as well. While my colleagues at 538 and I know that the State of the Union itself tends not to move the needle politically, the speech can tell us where Biden plans to focus his efforts this election year. It’s also an opportunity for Biden to assuage concerns from his own voters and inspire them to vote in November. The presidential race has the potential to be as close as the last two, so he’ll need it if he wants to win.

-Monica Potts, 538