President Obama gave the State of the Union (SOTU) address last night, with Representative Paul Ryan giving the GOP response and Representative Michele Bachmann giving the Tea Party response. Part 1 focuses on Obama while Part 2 focuses on Ryan and Bachmann.
First, some general impressions. On the whole, I thought Obama gave a good speech. It was different than most previous SOTUs we’ve seen recently. Obama spent much more time talking about broader themes for America as opposed to spending most of the time discussing concrete agenda items. My girlfriend described it as more like a pep rally than a plan, and I think she’s right. Whether you agree with his views or not, one has to admit that when Obama’ speaking in more abstract, thematic terms, he’s a darn good speaker and very inspiring. Last night, that was prominently on display.
And there was a little humor, too. The best zinger of the night was the tidbit about freshwater salmon and Interior versus saltwater salmon and Commerce. I was simultaneously amused and saddened.
From a political strategy perspective, he did masterfully last night. Make no mistake about it, Obama is in reelection mode. One could argue that a first-term president (or any politician not in their last term, be it due to term limits or retirement) is always in reelection mode, and I’d agree, however, it’s more apparent and urgent now than it was in the first two years of his presidency and will only escalate between now and election day 2012. Not only did he succeed at getting back to his speaking strength of abstract inspiration versus concrete plans, but he also did a great job of undercutting the GOP on several of its core issues (and getting his jabs in at them), including medical malpractice lawsuit reform, the 1099 rule in Obamacare, corporate tax rate cuts, tax code simplification, and, most importantly, deficit reduction.
Next, some specific grievances. I have two major grievances. First, he came across as timid and indecisive when discussing foreign policy. I don’t know what it is, but I personally have a hard time taking Obama seriously when he tries to talk tough. I’m not sure if that’s Obama-specific or a broader stroke on democrats in general, but I just didn’t get the vibe of strength last night.
Second was his handling of social security. Not only did he really gloss over this issue by giving it a couple sentences of lip service, but what he said made it very clear that he doesn’t favor meaningful reform to social security. I still don’t think Obama understands just how big of a problem social security really is, and I also don’t think he grasps that the longer we leave it unaddressed, the worse it gets, two points I’ve been harping on over the past decade or so. He’s clearly not in favor of privatization, which I’ll advocate for in some upcoming posts.
Energy policy was a mixed bag to me. On one hand, he counted nuclear in his clean energy list. I find that extremely encouraging because Obama mentioning it positively shows that maybe the left is starting to come around to a more favorable view of nuclear power. On the other hand, oil and coal were not so lucky. Obama came out swinging at them, particularly oil. As I’ve previously outlined, reducing domestic oil production, as Obama clearly wants to do, is a terrible idea if you’re even remotely concerned about improving the US economy and national security.
Also in the mixed bag is how Obama talked about simultaneously cutting spending to get the debt under control and increasing spending in investments like infrastructure, education, and green energy. This feels like political double-speak to me where, if Obama’s first two years are any indication, the former will take a back seat to the latter. I’ve got more upcoming stuff about debt and GDP, too.
Last, some specific praise (so I end on a positive note). First, I was happy not to see him mention gun control last night. I know it’s going to come up sometime soon, but I’m glad to see it wasn’t last night. I think we’re still a bit shellshocked from the Arizona shooting because it was so recent. Second, Obama mentioned corporate tax cuts. This is something that absolutely must happen if America is to attract businesses.
Overall, it was a little light on specifics for my taste, but still a solid speech with something for everybody.
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