Americans want strength in their president | RUBEN NAVARRETTE JR.

Now that the bear is trying to swallow the nightingale, President Joe Biden must use his State of the Union address to show strength, strength and more strength.

That became clear Wednesday night, when Russian President Vladimir Putin — with an assist from Belarus, which may be aiding and abetting war crimes — invaded the sovereign nation of Ukraine (the national symbol of which is the common nightingale, a small and peaceful bird with a beautiful song).

Biden must forcefully push back against the aggressors in Eastern Europe, as well as Putin’s appeasers in the Republican Party here at home.

The president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday gives him the chance to show strength.

Americans need reassurance that Biden is fully up to the task of fighting the essential battles, whether at home or abroad.

What we do not need to see from this president is empathy or compassion. We already know that the man from Scranton, Pennsylvania, feels our pain. How could he not, given that he has suffered so much loss and family tragedy in his hardscrabble life?

Nor do we need to see Biden display humility. That’s what we need to see from presidents with swagger who are plagued by hubris. That’s not Biden. It’s never been. Someone who lived a middle-class life while serving for nearly 50 years in government, and famously took Amtrak to work until he became vice president, does not need to show humility. Competence yes, humility no.

Someone needs to explain this fact to David Axelrod, former adviser to President Barack Obama. “Axe” recently gave Biden some terrible advice about his State of the Union address. In an op-ed for The New York Times, Axelrod declared that America is “stressed” and suffering from a “national trauma.” He warned Biden not to gloss over the prolonged strain that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacted on Americans’ lives or spend too much time touting his accomplishments. Axelrod caught a hint of a victory lap during Biden’s Jan. 19 news conference. And so, he warned in his op-ed, Biden would be smart to use the State of the Union address to acknowledge the struggles facing Americans.

Axelrod is totally wrong, and Biden would be wise to ignore his advice.

It goes to the nature of the job. When Americans elect a president, they are not hiring a national therapist who will spend session after session assuring them that he understands how hard life has been for them in the last few years. They’re selecting a leader, someone who can guide them through the hard times with courage, determination, perseverance — and, yes, strength.

Democrats like Axelrod shouldn’t need a reminder of this.

Surely they remember Mario Cuomo’s electrifying keynote address at the 1984 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco. The New York governor had that great line in his speech about how “Franklin Roosevelt lifted himself from his wheelchair to lift this nation from its knees.”

That’s what Americans expect from their president. Don’t tell me that you understand how bad my life is at the moment. Do something to make my life better. And when you think you’ve done that, go ahead and crow about it. There are worse things.

Americans don’t need a president — any president — to tell them they’re struggling. They already know that. They want hope, vision and a plan for the future. They want to know that they chose wisely and put their trust in the right person.

Besides, humility could be seen as weakness by Republicans. And that could pull Biden further underwater.

A poll last month from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that only 43 percent of Americans approve of the job that Biden is doing as president, and only 28 percent say they want Biden to run for re-election in 2024. Even among Democrats, just 48 percent want Biden to run for reelection. When asked about his dismal poll numbers at a Jan. 19 news conference, Biden glibly responded, “I don’t believe the polls.”

Well, believe this: We Americans don’t need our commander in chief to be humble. We need him, or her, to be strong — and bold and resolute. Especially in a crisis.

Mr. President, that’s the tone that you need to set when delivering to the country your first report on the state of the union. Let’s hear it. Nice and loud.

Ruben Navarrette’s email address is crimscribe@icloud.com. His podcast, “Ruben in the Center,” is available through every podcast app.