President Biden gives closing remarks during his State of the Union address.

In Thursday night’s State of the Union address, President Joe Biden spoke principally to Democrats and answered one question and one question only: is he, at this point, able to be a candidate for reelection?

His answer, as evidenced by his fiery, combative, and extremely partisan speech, is yes, he is, but only for those Democratic and Democratic-leaning independents who are inclined to vote for the incumbent president. For the rest of the electorate, the speech was decidedly unremarkable as the 80-minute performance was an argumentative and divisive list of partisan proposals and accomplishments.

The stakes could not have been higher for the president, who trails former President Donald Trump on virtually every major issue Americans care about most: inflation, the economy, the border, crime, and national security. A new poll by my firm, Schoen Cooperman Research, confirms as much, in addition to the serious doubts that exist among the electorate -- and even within Biden’s own party -- about his mental acuity and fitness for office.

BIDEN ASSAILS 'PREDECESSOR' TRUMP, GOP IN SHARPLY PARTISAN STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH

For Democrats, let’s not underestimate how important this speech was. According to recent polling, 36% of Democrats think their party should nominate someone other than Joe Biden. And for that group, this address provided at least some reassurance that he can deliver a fire and brimstone speech.

Listening to the audio picked up after the speech, a number of partisan Democrats congratulated the president on his........

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