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I love talking politics. But when I sit down to watch the State of the Union tonight, there will be one thing going through my head: This could have been an email.For years, thats how the State of the Union worked. Well, not an email. It was a letter. Thats how Thomas Jefferson delivered his constitutionally mandated update. But in 1913, Woodrow Wilson delivered his remarks in person, and for better or for worse, the tradition has stuck.

In recent years, this event has become known less for the policy priorities it articulates than for the memes it inspires. Remember when a GOP congressman interrupted Barack Obama and called him a liar? Remember when Nancy Pelosi ripped up Donald Trumps speech? Last year, it was Marjorie Taylor Greene who made newsfor crowing at Biden in a dramatic white coat.

Ive been wondering what it will be like to be in the room this evening, bracing myself for this years outbursts. So, I called up someone who will be, and I asked if she looks forward to it or dreads it. Maybe a little of both, said Pramila Jayapal, who represents Washington state. Shes also the leader of Congress progressive caucus. I really looked forward to it when we had all three chambers, because I knew it was going to be a preview of all the incredible things that we were going to try to get done.

This year, as much as Joe Biden might want to put on a display of force, hes facing stiff headwinds on Capitol Hill. In an election year, hes facing stiff headwinds at the ballot box, too.If you look at the polling, part of the presidents problem is that he seems to be losing young people, progressivesexactly the kind of people in Jayapals caucus.So ahead of tonight shes been working behind the scenes to shape what Biden has to say.

We have been corresponding with the White House, and I hope that some of the things that were pushing for get in to the speech, she said. We always talk about the opposition agenda, which is Were better than Trump. But we also have all these things that weve already accomplished and also things that we want to do, our proposition agenda. And Im really looking forward to hearing the president inspire us.

On Thursdays episode of What Next, we spoke with the leader of the House progressive caucus about the State of the Union, 2024, and why shes (still) routing for Biden, even though his campaign is making her nervous. Our conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Mary Harris: I want to talk about exactly what you want the president to say tonight, but I want to start by asking about this thing youve been saying in interviews. Youre an unequivocal, enthusiastic supporter of Joe Biden, but youve also said very clearly that you think at this point right now, the Biden coalition has fractured.

And to me, thats notable because when Joe Biden came into office, you were very clear and gave him a lot of praise for bringing together progressives and moderates, getting them all at the same table, and really pushing through some things that made you quite optimistic about his presidency. When did you begin to see this fracturing youre talking about now? And what was the issue that made it clear the fracturing was happening?

Pramila Jayapal: There was definitely a shift in the third year of his presidency when we lost the House and when we started to move towards the presidential election. There was a change in staffing, obviously, and a lot of the strong progressives throughout the administration had done an amazing job for the first two years. We got a lot accomplished. And they left. So there were new relationships to be formed. That was part of it.

But the bigger issues emerged in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel and then the corresponding posture that President Biden took towards Israel with unconditional support. And as the humanitarian crisis continued, I was early to call for a cease-fire because I saw what was happening, and I saw that Netanyahu had literally stood against a two-state solution. So I do think that was the beginning.

I am still supporting the president. And his economic agenda is important. But I also am not shy about making it clear that we cannot expect that progressives are just going to turn out because Donald Trump is worse.

We just saw the result in Michigan where 100,000 plus people turned out to vote uncommitted rather than vote for Joe Biden.

Exactly. And it was a significant vote because it was organized around what is happening in Gaza. What Ive tried to explain to the White House over and over again is that this is an issue of deep moral consequence, because people really believe at the core that it is untenable for the United States to be complicit in this war. We are the largest funder of military aid to Israel. Eighty-three percent of the bombs that have been dropped in Gaza are U.S. bombs. And yet were air-dropping 38,000 meals into Gaza when theres 500,000 people starving because Israel wont allow humanitarian aid to go through the border. So, we could lose this election over Democrats and the presidents position on what is happening in Gaza.

There needs to be a dramatic policy shift. I believe we can still win, but I think its got to come soon. And then theres got to be a very deliberate effort to respect where progressives are, to reach out to people, and to really build the kind of relationships that we had to build in the coalition for 2020. That doesnt come just by saying to people, Well, you should just vote for Joe Biden over Donald Trump. Thats not how it works.

Just this weekend, Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech in Selma, Alabama, to mark the 59th anniversary of the Bloody Sunday civil rights attacks. When she spoke, she called for a cease-fire. Was that the beginning of the moral clarity that youre looking for? To me, it felt like the administrations soft-launching of tougher language when it comes to Israel.

Thats how I saw it, too. And she didnt just say cease-fire. She said immediate cease-fire, which was a big change. This has not happened before from the administration. It was good, strong language. Now we need to back it up with a policy shift, because rhetoric is one thing, but we are continuing to fund this aid. And I dont believe we should be providing any more offensive military aid to Israel. I believe we need to now be pushing Israel to put at the forefront aid into Gaza, reconstruction of Gaza, returning of the hostages, and most importantly, an actual plan, perhaps with new leadership from both Palestinians and Israelis, so that we can get to a long-term peace settlement for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Youve talked about this fracturing of the Democratic coalition. I wonder whether calling for a cease-fire, full-throatedly, might alienate a different corner of the Democratic coalition, different than the progressive corner. And I say that because when I went to Thanksgiving, I sat next to a relative who would deeply disagree with you on the Israel issue. Shed argue that Israel has a right to defend itself in Gaza. And shes an incredibly strong Democrat. What do you tell voters like that?

Well, I think we all agree Israel had a right to defend itself. One of the saddest things for me is that there was so much unity and support for Israel in the days and the moments after Oct. 7.

She would disagree with you on that. She would say there wasnt enough speaking out for Israeli Jews in the wake.

Its very difficult to speak to 100 percent of people on this issue because people do have very strong feelings. But the support for a cease-fire has continued to increase as people have seen what is happening in Gaza. I mean, 30,000 people have been killed and 21,000 of them are women and children. We have babies who are dying of starvation15 just in the last couple of days. Ive talked to a lot of my Jewish friendsin fact, Zionists who are very strongly in support of security for Israel but dont see the path that were on producing that. Even some of the hostage families are saying we need a cease-fire so we can get out the hostages. The only time weve ever had hostages released, well, largely, has been during the last temporary cease-fire.

There are Israelis and Palestinians and Americans from both diaspora communities who want to work towards peace. Maybe we cant get 100 percent, but certainly if you look at, the polling across the country, the vast majority of Americansdo believe that it is very important for us to stop the killing in Gaza, to have a cease-fire or a cessation of hostilities, and to work towards a long-term solution. [Editors note: Its the majority of Democrats who say Israels gone too far in the Gaza war. And about half of all Americans.]

Another big issue Jayapal is hoping to see Bidenand her party at largeswitch gears on is immigration. After House Republicans tanked a bipartisan immigration reform bill last month, Jayapal says its time for Democrats to remember their principles.

I have been distressed by the fact that I see some Democrats doing what Democrats have done for a long time, which is trying to out-Republican Republicans. I dont think it works. Ive worked on the issue for 20 years. It isnt the answer. What I hope the president does is bring a really inclusive message on immigration to the State of the Union and also make the case that the border is not a line that just operates on its own. The chaos at the border is driven by the fact that we have chaos in our immigration system. Our legal immigration system has not been fixed in 30 years, and we need to make the connection for Americans between those two things and make the case for the fact that Republicans continue to block us from doing the kinds of reforms that would actually bring not only security to the border but also would help our economy thrive, help our families thrive, and help our country thrive.

Its interesting to me youre talking about immigration because in the Senate, Democrats and Republicans spent a long time negotiating a deal on immigration that was shut down when Donald Trump said, We cant give Joe Biden a win. This is an election year. But a lot of progressives were really upset by the negotiating that was taking place in the Senate and the things that were coming out of that deal. But then there were other people saying, Well, this is good politics, because now we can say the Republicans shut us down. We would have come to you. We would have given you aggressive stances on the border. At one point, Joe Biden talked about shutting the border down. What do you make of that gamble?

Look, the Republicans have never wanted to fix the immigration issue. They want to leave it out there as a political tool and to drive xenophobia and racism and fear. Thats what we progressives have been saying for a long time is: Dont fall into this trap of only doing harsh enforcement. What weve seen over time is that harsh immigration policies dont work. They didnt work under Donald Trump. We all fought them. To see Democrats embracing some of those things with no conversation at all about these underlying questions of a pathway to citizenship and real reforms that would actually fix things at the border was deeply disappointing. But in the end, Republicans proved exactly what we were saying. They wouldnt even go for the bill that Mitch McConnell called the harshest immigration enforcement bill. And so they showed their true colors. Hopefully Democrats can come back together now and show people that this is what were talking about. Republicans dont want to fix this problem. Democrats do. Heres our solutions.

One of the other things the president is sure to talk about at the State of the Union is reproductive rights, because it is an issue that is incredibly important to voters right now. But Ive heard some frustrated young voters basically throw up their hands and say, It doesnt matter how I vote in November or if I vote in November, because right now, if Im in Texas, I cant get the health care I need, and Joe Biden isnt able to change that. Biden talks about passing legislation that would codify Roe v. Wade, but doing that would involve abolishing the filibuster, which I know you approve of but its something that a lot of people in the Senate have resisted. So the question becomes: Why does it matter? When youre faced with a voter like that, how do you reach them?

Look, we have to change not just the rulersthe people who are in officebut we also have to change the rules. We have rules that were stuck with, and the filibuster is one of them. Joe Biden has said that he would be supportive of reforming the filibuster so that we can codify abortion rights, so that we can codify voting rights. I think we need to get rid of it completely. But we need at least 50 votes in the Senate. And right now, we theoretically have 48. Lets try to get a majority of 51 or 52 in the Senate, and then lets change the rules.

The reality is the filibuster is a Jim Crow legacy rule that stops us from doing so many things that not just young voters but voters across this country want. We have to show young people the path, because theyre so tired of hearing us say that were going to do all these things but not talking to them about how were going to do them. If we explain to people that we need at least a 51-, 52-vote majority in the Senate, and that we are going to demand of our senators that they get rid of the filibuster so that we can do all these things, that is a pathway. But weve got to lay it out for people. We cant just say, Trust us, were going to get it done, because theyve trusted us and we havent explained to them that the rules dont allow it.

Get more news from Mary Harris every weekday.

Weve talked a bit about this fractured Democratic coalition that you feel like youre staring at right now. When will you know that coalition is coming back together again?

Its really a feeling of momentum on the ground. I am a very intuitive person in politics. Back in 2016 when everyone thought that Hillary Clinton was going to win, I was pretty alone in saying Trump is using xenophobia, racism, sexism, and I think hes going to win.

Hes using the greatest hits?

Yeah. And Im a woman of color. I know exactly what this looks like. So, I predicted that he was going to win. And unfortunately, I was right. This time around, and Ive shared this with the White House, I am seeing that fracturing on the ground, the same kind of thing that I was feeling in 2016. I couldnt feel the energy of our progressive base.

Democrats for too long have focused on a swing voter that they define as the independent white suburban woman. She is extremely important. We need her. But what we forget is that the biggest base of swing voters are young people, people of color, progressives who have to be respected and brought into the process because they wont swing to Donald Trump, but they will swing out to the sidelines and not vote at all if they dont feel like theyre being heard, listened to, and brought into the coalition in an active, deliberate way.

Youre saying a very terrifying thing in such a calm way.

Well, yeah, it is terrifying. I think Donald Trump is terrifying. I lived through that first term. I was elected the same night that Donald Trump was elected. And I remember speaking at my first event as a congresswoman-elect the morning after in front of weeping people at our city hall and trying to hold things together for peopleto give hope and to allow people to feel like their voices still mattered.

But Im also hopeful because I dont think that things are set by polls months out from the election. I do feel that the momentum and the work we have to do organizing and the policy shifts that have to happenthe White House has to understand how important the progressive base is. I feel like they really got it in the first two years. They really got it in 2020 when we had the Biden-Sanders unity task forces. And Joe Biden made a real effort to reach out to all different parts of the coalition. We need that again. And we need the importance, the dedication, the respect, and the policy changes.

Continue reading here:
Pramila Jayapal State of the Union preview: Joe Biden needs to speak to progressives. - Slate