President Obama during Wednesday’s State of the Union address. (Photo by Pete Souza/The White House)
We can’t all be pundits, but we can have an original thought. It’s true – you’re not a pundit, neither am I. That said — we can, and do, all have unique and even atypical political thoughts sometimes.
And, so, on what is the annual Super Bowl for political speeches – the State of the Union – I decided to exploit the sharp and savvy minds of friends, family and colleagues. Rather than listening to pundits last night, my laptop and I traveled out of the District to the home of a dear friend in Falls Church, Virginia.
The idea was to get out of dodge, take in the speech, and report to you – New Mexico – about what Americans are thinking from Connecticut to Virginia to Alabama to Florida to Michigan to Illinois to Texas to California. I listened to zero commentary last night. Just soaked in e-mails and texts from some self-professed Democrats, independents and Republicans.
This is not meant to be a play-by-play or any fact-based analysis. Just a peek into what every-day Americans were thinking during President Barack Obama’s speech. Maybe some of this will resonate. Maybe it won’t. Either way, enjoy and feel free to comment away.
‘He looks like a rock star’
The president – a little grayer and no doubt wiser – looked sharp, walked confidently and delivered in a commanding manner.
“He looks like a rock star,” said one. Very, very true. But, literally, 30 minutes into the speech, a text popped up, “Harry’s yawning.”
I made an immediate note when the president used “Black Tuesday” and “Bloody Friday” in the same sentence. A red (rhetoric) flag went up in my head. I was not alone. Just a bit later this comment came in:
• “He needs a new speech writer… The rhetorical flourishes – constant references to D-Day and MLK, constant references to person x, from y small town, who he met, or who wrote him a letter that said z. Constant phrases like ‘from Peoria to Pittsburgh, from Seattle to Santa Fe’ – are clichéd. He is at his best when he doesn’t try to be too grand.”
What was abundantly clear at the outset of the speech was that the blame-card was being played – and not being played very well. He was trying to lay blame on President Bush and partisan Republicans.
Truth be told, I was a bit surprised that the president would be so bold to bring this up when – after all – he has been blessed with a Congress composed of more Democrats in the House and the Senate than at any time since the 1960s. Further, if the president was sincere about that fact that “we do not let division break our spirit” and that America needs “a government that embodies their strength,” then why play the blame card?
Sarah Lenti
Right now he needs to be Mr. Bipartisan-in-Chief, not Mr. Blame-in-Chief. Here is what others had to say, and they said it fast:
• “Here we go, he’s blaming it on Bush.”
• “He’s still blaming the last administration.”
• “He is still blaming Bush or the Republicans. He never owned up to his own partisanship or the way that he has used his majority to ramrod unpopular policies past the American people.”
Jobs, jobs, jobs
President Obama was quick, and right, to first turn to the economy and specifically jobs. He said jobs “must be our number one focus.” Bravo!
His insistence, however, “that the worst of the storm was over” and that the stimulus was the end-all, be-all was, well, hard to stomach. “We cut taxes,” he said. And, apparently, jobs are being created daily and “millions of Americans have more to spend.” Not many were buying this.
• “Things are actually worse now. The stimulus bill HAS NOT created a lot of jobs. Talk to the teachers in Chesterfield County who are now being laid off.”
• “Not credible! He’s rewriting history – it’s unsustainable and unrealistic.”
• “Your trillion [in stimulus] (as opposed to the deficit trillion) is the good trillion?!? Thanks!”
• “I love how he only mentioned government jobs in that list. Where are the private sector jobs?”
• “Surprised high energy prices are listed as one of first points. Not really an issue with recession.”
Back to jobs. There was great (e-mail) applause over cutting taxes on both small and large businesses. I will be frank – my (uber) Republican mother said, “Now, I like the idea of tax incentives for small businesses.”
I agree – this is a great way to grow jobs. Regarding the weight that infrastructure projects would bring to bear on the market, others had different thoughts, such as:
• “The United States does not need a high-speed train system. Europe has this because it was built 100s and 100s of years before ours.”
• “Our trains are slow because Amtrak is government run.”
• “Dear unemployed: if you want a job, buy a hardhat and a shovel.”
Regarding the power of clean-energy jobs and energy policy writ large – the amount of talk-time on this issue was pretty amazing. Hard to see how this is going to be rushed to the top of the White House agenda anytime soon.
Impossible, actually – they have the economy and health care to tackle first. Some comments:
• “Barack didn’t get the memo that he’s not allowed to say he likes off shore drilling. Whoops.”
• “Cap and trade will kill all of his export initiatives.”
Education
Now this made people send thumbs up – for all of about 120 seconds.
• “I do agree that the best anti-poverty program is a world-class education.”
• “I do think the student loan system needs revamping. I left public service because I couldn’t afford to pay my student loans.”
• “On education: what reforms? He talked about Race to the Top — without naming it — and how it created ‘reform’ we need to be expanded to all kids. But, what reform? Sure, some states raised their cap on charter schools. But no money has been awarded, no grants won by states, so shouldn’t they see how the program works before they replicate it?”
• “The administration is proposing a 6.2% increase in the education budget. All we have done as a country – federal, state, local – is increase education funding over the past 10 years. And despite the ‘investment,’ student achievement has barely moved. So before we just throw more money at education, perhaps we should look at how dollars are currently being used.”
Health care, housing and trade
As expected, health care was given plenty of time in the speech. That said, after the last eight months of health care at nausea, it’s no surprise very few commented. Here is what was posted:
• “[The President said] he was ‘not going to walk away from these Americans [re: healthcare’ – why don’t you confront trial lawyers on insanely high liability insurance for doctors? Then, what about allowing insurance companies to compete across state lines? Also, end the tax credit available to businesses but not to individuals (by far the biggest problem) – or expand the tax credit to everyone.”
• “[The President also talked about] ‘a vast improvement over the status quo’ – isn’t that like the varying degrees of hell. It doesn’t matter if you’re not in the hottest part of hell, you’re still in hell?
On housing and trade:
• “Housing crisis – a minute?”
• “Export – dollar strategy? Doesn’t export depend in large part on the strength of the dollar?”
• “Something like ‘enforce trade deals’ – isn’t a big reason things are so much cheaper elsewhere, especially china, because they don’t have anywhere close to the rules and regulations (on anything) that the US has.”
National security
National Security got a back seat. We went from The Axis of Evil in 2002 to a clear gloss-over of Iran’s and North Korea’s rather provocative behavior between 2009 and 2010. And there was a rather odd admiration and lauding of China and India.
It’s great that our veterans are being better taken care of. And, it’s great that the president all but declared the War on Terrorism over… but we are far from in the clear. Hearken – Merry Christmas!
Comments:
• “He spent 10 minutes on national security and is reverting back to clean energy and fluff policy.”
• “Are they supposed to be our role models???? (China and India)”
• “We need to pay our debt to China or we will never be in first place.”
• “A lot of rewriting history, a little rewriting of the constitution… Unacceptably little on national security.”
Final thoughts
It is truly great that President Obama is making jobs his No. 1 focus. No quarrels with this. I just (sincerely) hope that “reform” for the sake of reform doesn’t allow us to become complacent in places where complacency is unacceptable, a la education, defense, our economy and (yes) even health care.
Balance is key. Bipartisanship is key. We need the president to display this.
Now, some favorite lines from my communicators that gave me a laugh.
• “Please mention Joe and Nancy’s matchy matchy outfits in your blog!”
• “He’s acting like a tool – what’s with the comedy routine.”
• “We don’t need Letterman as POTUS.”
• “McDonnell seems like a low risk response so far. Not inspiring – at all. No star is born, but avoiding a Jindahl. Forced new media reference to twitter and facebook.” (Read McDonnell’s speech here.)
Overall, The State of the Union left a few feeling short-changed – in theory and in reality. The last text of the evening said it fairly, while also giving credit where credit was due: “Predictable, but he does give a mediocre speech better than anyone else…”
Lenti currently works as a policy consultant and advisor to Republican Party leaders, executives and candidates. She has worked in New Mexico and other states on presidential and congressional races and has a background in national security. Contact her at sarah.lenti@gmail.com.