Dem
51
GOP
49
The State of the Union is less than a week away, and the GOP has finally chosen its respondent. It is Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL), who just commenced her second year in the upper chamber, having succeeded her former boss Richard Shelby.
Customarily, in an election year, the respondent is someone who is running for office, and who can use some PR. That obviously does not describe Britt, who won't be up again until 2028, and who will hold on to her seat for as long as she wants it without breaking a sweat. Clearly, she was chosen because it is her state that was responsible for the hot-button IVF decision, and because she is a woman, and because Joe Biden is undoubtedly going to bring up reproductive issues one or two or ten times in his speech.
The question is exactly what Britt will say. On one hand, it's her job to fire up the base, and to remind the country that Biden is feeble, incompetent, corrupt, the embodiment of evil, etc. On the other hand, she's a moderate (by GOP standards) on abortion, and she's already expressed opposition to the IVF decision. So, she likely won't be as extreme as, say, her senior colleague Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) would be, and she might even put forward an alternative IVF proposal, in response to the one from Tammy Duckworth and Patty Murray (see above). Certainly, it will be of more interest than the usual SOTU response. (Z)