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Central Coast residents and visitors speak out on President Biden’s performance prior to his address to Congress

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - President Joe Biden spoke to Congress on the evening of his first 100 days in office, a milestone that was reached on Thursday.

This was not the State of the Union speech and is specifically being described as an address that will cover the accomplishments reached so far, and the goals ahead.

The last six presidents have described their first speech to the joint session of Congress as an address and in subsequent years it is the State of the Union.

Central Coast residents and visitors are speaking out about Biden's performance in areas that include the pandemic, the economy, medical care, immigration and housing issues. We spoke to a few of them ahead of the president's historic address.

At the base of Stearns Wharf, Paul Warkins from the Midwest gave good marks for the president's coronavirus response. "Everything they said they want to execute on with the pandemic, and vaccine rollout and the competency has been good. The American Rescue Plan, I think the rollout of the American Jobs Plan,  Americans Family Plan is as good as it can be with one-sided support with a country as polarized as it is."

"The economy is getting better by the day, yeah absolutely," said Matthew Studzinski from Denver.

Even those who are not supporters of what's happening in Washington D.C. are hoping the country rebounds successfully.

Wendy, a former California resident visiting again said she followed state governments more than the national picture. "Even though he is our President and I didn't vote for him, I still respect him as our President and I want to back him because he's what we have," she said.

Many people said partisan conflicts are still a big turnoff and hoped it would not be part of this administration. One called it, "too much  kindergarten fighting all the time."

As for the direction of the country, going forward, comes with a piece of advice about addressing the average citizen.

"Make it clear where their goals are and why it benefits the middle class and the normal citizen," said Studzinski.

President Biden spoke on NewsChannel 3-12 at 6 p.m.

Republican Sen. Tim Scott was set to deliver the rebuttal to the President's speech. Scott has represented South Carolina since 2013.

Article Topic Follows: Coronavirus

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John Palminteri

John Palminteri is senior reporter for KEYT News Channel 3-12. To learn more about John, click here.

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