The State of the Union address as a political math test

Barack Obama had once hoped to be a conciliatory president who understood his adversaries, writes columnist E.J. Dionne Jr. It was clear that the Obama who addressed the nation Wednesday also understood that he confronts a Republican Party that sees unflinching opposition as a path to victory.

Syndicated columnist

WASHINGTON — There was an unexpected poignancy to the moment. Barack Obama, who once strode across the political landscape as a master of the persuasive arts, found himself needing to prove that mastery all over again.

In a single speech, his task was to: prevent the result of one special Senate election from calling into question his agenda or his power; respond to the discontent that poured forth from and after Massachusetts; re-establish his popular standing; and, in the process, both ignite the left and win back the center.

So, in his State of the Union address, Obama sought to pass a political math test by solving several simultaneous equations. He distanced himself from Wall Street but also reassured the businesses of Main Street. To independents, he insisted he still seeks a Washington that can work across partisan lines, but he also challenged Republicans to end their obstructive ways.

A speech he once hoped to give in celebration of a victory on health-care reform became instead a passionate plea to save his policy dream from political oblivion.

"By the time I'm finished speaking tonight, more Americans will have lost their health insurance," Obama declared. "Millions will lose it this year. Our deficit will grow. Premiums will go up. Patients will be denied the care they need. Small-business owners will continue to drop coverage altogether. I will not walk away from these Americans. And neither should the people in this chamber."

Obama interpreted the popular mood less as a revolt against his party or himself than as a reflection of "deep and corrosive doubts about how Washington works that have been growing for years." He sought to show that while he had heard the protests, he was not reacting by abruptly changing what he stands for or where he would lead the nation.

His aides insist that there is no new Obama, that his latest populist-sounding economic proposals were foreshadowed by campaign promises. Indeed, his call for both parties "to work through our differences" and to turn away from "the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades" could have come from the Obama of 2004 or 2007.

But yes, aides insisted in briefings before the speech, the president has been tempered by combat. A calm, cerebral man can know when he has to fight.

Obama pledged to spend money to fix the economy now while pushing for longer-term efforts to cut the deficit. He continued to strike a populist tone in calling for tougher rules on banks and for rolling back a Supreme Court decision vastly expanding the influence of corporations in electoral politics. "I don't think American elections should be bankrolled by America's most powerful interests," he declared, "or worse, by foreign entities."

At the same time, Obama sought to grapple with public unhappiness over the economy, a particularly strong sentiment among working-class voters, who have most felt the lash of hard times. It was clear that if Obama did nothing else, he would identify himself with the word "jobs" and shout his determination to bring them back.

It was also obvious that he realizes his administration lost two critical battles last year: to define his stimulus plan and his health-care proposal. Polls show that Republicans' negative claims have stuck with voters, while the administration's arguments for the merits of both plans have not.

Obama made the case for his ideas again, but he also challenged Republicans to do more than criticize. "We cannot wage a perpetual campaign where the only goal is to see who can get the most embarrassing headlines about their opponent — a belief that if you lose, I win," Obama said. "Neither party should delay or obstruct every single bill just because they can." And Obama underscored the Democrats' determination to highlight the GOP's role in creating Washington's sour atmosphere. "Just saying no to everything may be good short-term politics," he said, "but it's not leadership."

Barack Obama had once hoped to be a conciliatory president who understood his philosophical adversaries. He is still that man, and much of his speech described ideas, especially in education and energy, that could well win support across ideological lines.

But it was clear that the Obama who addressed the nation on Wednesday also understood that he confronts a Republican Party that sees unflinching opposition as blazing a path to victory. And he offered himself as a president ready to do battle. "We don't quit," he said. "I don't quit."

E.J. Dionne Jr.'s column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. His e-mail address is ejdionne@washpost.com

Source:seattletimes.nwsource.com/

Chris Matthews on Obama: `Forgot He Was Black'

MSNBC's Chris Matthews says President Barack Obama has done so much to heal racial divisions that he "forgot he was black" while watching his State of the Union address.

Those four words — "forgot he was black" — so instantly set the Twitter world afire that Matthews came back less than 90 minutes later Wednesday night to explain what he meant.

The MSNBC commentator said it was noteworthy to him that a black president was addressing a room of mostly white people and how it didn't seem to be an issue. He said he saw it in the context of growing up at a time racial divisions were ever-present.

Says Matthews: "I went in the room tonight, you could feel it wasn't there tonight and that takes leadership on his part, to get us beyond those divisions."

Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Source:abcnews.go.com/

President Speaks. Asia, Europe Jump; US Flat

US stocks were mixed in early trading after a flurry of upbeat earnings were offset by disappointing reports on weekly jobless claims and durable goods.

The mixed opening comes a day after President Barack Obama said the government should take new actions to bolster the economy and create jobs.

Politics, not the economy, had been dictating trading over the past week. However, mixed signals about the economy coming from a fresh round of earnings and economic reports was the focus of trading early Thursday.

Obama’s focus on the economy in his first State of the Union speech and a seemingly less hostile attitude to the banks in the speech, coupled with further upbeat US corporate earnings reports, also helped.

Ford Motor reported 2009 full year earnings of $2.7 billion on Thursday, its first full-year profit since 2005.

Shoppers bought more of Colgate-Palmolive’s toothpaste, soaps and body washes, helping the consumer product maker boost its fourth-quarter profit by 27 percent.

And, the number of new claims for unemployment benefits fell less than expected last week, fresh evidence the US job market remains a weak spot in the economic recovery. Orders to US factories for big-ticket manufactured goods posted a modest increase in December, but the gain was not enough to prevent orders from plunging by a record amount for the whole of 2009.

Elsewhere, stock markets recovered their poise on after the US Federal Reserve indicated that interest rates would not rise soon, while the euro fell below $1.40 as currency traders started to fret about the public finances in Portugal as well as those of Greece.

In Europe, the three main indexes were up about 0.5 percent.

Stocks around the world had been in retreat for most of the last week in the wake of Obama’s announcement that he plans to impose restrictions on banks more risky trading activities.

Earlier, Asian stocks snapped their losing streak. World markets were due for a bounce after an extended slide, analysts said. In Asia, worries surrounding China’s measures to cool its economy are likely to hold investors back in the coming weeks and months.

“The DEFCON level has definitely been decreased, but no one is looking to hoover up huge amounts of stock yet,” said Ben Collett of Louis Capital Markets in Hong Kong. “There’s still a lot of caution.”

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average jumped 162.21 points, or 1.6 percent, to 10,414.29 and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 323.30 points, or 1.6 percent, 20,356.37. South Korea’s Kospi advanced 1 percent to 1,642.43.

Shanghai’s market was up 0.3 percent, Australia added 0.6 percent and India’s index ticked up 0.1 percent. Taiwan’s market gained 1.8 percent.

Source:thejakartaglobe.com/

Obama headed to Tampa to announce $1.25B in rail funds

TAMPA -- President Barack Obama is slated to host a town hall meeting here Thursday, one day after he put jobs at the top of his 2010 agenda in his State of the Union speech.

Obama, along with Vice President Joe Biden, aren't coming empty-handed to the job-hungry state. They are expected to announce $1.25 billion to help build a high-speed rail system from Orlando to Tampa and, eventually, to Miami. The project is heavily supported by both Democratic and Republican elected officials.

Gov. Charlie Crist is planning to meet Obama on the airport tarmac but will not stand by him at the town hall meeting, as he did one year ago when Obama campaigned in Fort Myers for his $787 billion spending plan. Crist's support for the plan sullied his image with conservative Republicans, who condemn the administration's economic policies.

So this time, with his U.S. Senate campaign flagging, Crist is casting his face time with Obama as an opportunity to set him straight. He said in a written statement on Wednesday: ``I look forward to seeing the president tomorrow to tell him myself the direction I believe our country should move toward, not just in talk but in action: a commitment to lower taxes for families and small businesses; to pay down the deficit and stop out-of-control federal spending; to provide a real solution to the growing unemployment rate; and to, once and for all, put an end to a government-run healthcare plan.''

Appearing on NBC's Today Show, former Gov. Jeb Bush was asked if he would have joined the president as Crist did one year ago.

``I would go when the president comes to the state,'' Bush said. ``I think it's more than appropriate. It's not a sign of support. I wouldn't have necessarily embraced the stimulus plan that did not have support in the state and campaign for it and put Republicans in a vulnerable position.''

Bush also echoed Obama's call for bipartisanship but suggested that the president wasn't practicing what he preached.

``I think that leaders on both sides of the aisle need to figure out where there is common ground and at least focus on that,'' Bush said. ``It's one thing to give a good speech. The other thing is to invite people that don't agree exactly with your point of view to build consensus.''

It's no accident that Obama picked Hillsborough County to reinforce the message from his State of the Union Speech. The political battleground has reflected the must-win state's vote in every presidential election since 1964.

But since Obama carried Florida in 2008, his popularity subsided as the recession lingers. Florida's unemployment rate climbed to 11.8 percent in December.

Source:miamiherald.com/

Obama's day: Florida follow-up to big speech

Good morning from The Oval. On this day 23 years ago, the space shuttle Challenger exploded shortly after take-off, killing all seven astronauts aboard; president Ronald Reagan postponed that night's scheduled State of the Union address.

President Obama delivered his State of the Union last night, and, as USA TODAY's Richard Wolf reports, talked about proposals to create jobs and reduce the budget deficit. USA TODAY's Susan Page notes that Obama focused on "hard times and tough choices."

Today, the president -- with Vice President Joe Biden -- follows up by visiting Florida for a town hall meeting at the University of Tampa.

Obama and Biden will announce an $8 billion grant in stimulus funds for a nationwide high-speed rail system. They will also tour an airplane maintenance center that has been used for aid flights to Haiti.

In his State of the Union, Obama also challenged Republicans to show leadership in light of their recent political success. Republicans said Obama displayed "long-windedness, hypocrisy and egotism," reports Kathy Kiely of USA TODAY.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Gannett colleague James Carroll of the Louisville Courier-Journal that Obama delivered an "in-your-face" and "needlessly partisan" address, "at a time when Americans were looking for the president to move to the center and build coalitions."

Obama covered a lot of ground in his 69-minute address, including issues bound to make news in the weeks and months ahead. Among them:

Jobs. Obama called job creation his top priority, and gave shorter shrift to health care.

Bi-partisanship. Appeals for legislative comity became a major theme of his speech.

Campaign finance. Obama proposed new rules for corporate spending on campaigns, criticizing a recent Supreme Court decision on the topic; Justice Samuel Alito, sitting in front of Obama, vigorously dissented from the president's analysis.

Gay rights. The president advocated repeal of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

The battle against al Qaeda. Obama pledged to take the fight to terrorists. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, meanwhile, asked that the upcoming trial of 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed be moved out of Manhattan, reports Kevin Johnson of USA TODAY.

Afghanistan. As Obama discussed his new war policy, Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai said it will take years to train his nation's military forces.

A laundry list of other pledges also highlighted the speech, and we'll discuss some of them in the hours ahead, along with reports of the Obama town hall in Florida. Keep clicking in, and have a good day.

Source:content.usatoday.com/

State of the Union notes

This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are," Obama said.

But it fell short for some gay activists. An organization representing service members who had been dismissed called on Obama to push a repeal in the upcoming Pentagon budget.

STAYING AT HOME: HUD secretary gets the call
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan got the nod to miss attending the speech in person -- fulfilling a requirement that someone in the line of succession stay away in case a catastrophe takes out the country's leadership.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also missed Obama's State of the Union address, but she was in London attending a conference.

REMEMBERING HAITI: A thank-you for pitching in
The president praised Americans who are helping Haiti recover. Obama said he was inspired by the "fundamental decency" of the American people. "It lives on in the 8-year-old boy in Louisiana, who just sent me his allowance and asked if I would give it to the people of Haiti," he said.

LET'S MEET: Extending a hand to the GOP
The president said he wanted to hold monthly meetings that included Republican leaders.

Obama looked at them and said, jokingly: "I know you can't wait."

A NOD TO THE MISSUS: Child obesity initiative lauded
The president lauded Michelle Obama for her initiative to lower the rate of child obesity in the country. The chamber stood in applause, while the first lady, sitting in the gallery, gently nodded.

"She gets embarrassed," Obama told members of Congress.

GALLERY GUESTS: The first lady's VIPs
The gallery guest list of 25 people sitting with Michelle Obama included:

• Tina Dixon, a former stay-at-home mom whom Obama met when he visited a jobs training site in Allentown, Pa., that received funding from the economic stimulus package

Source:freep.com/

The State of Our Union Is Long

Last night's speech -- clocking in at 70 minutes -- is the longest speech the president has given since becoming a national political figure in 2004.

President Obama made sure to convey to struggling Americans that he understands their anxieties. For them, he said, “change has not come fast enough. Some are frustrated; some are angry. They don't understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn't; or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems. They're tired of the partisanship and the shouting and the pettiness. They know we can't afford it. Not now.”

At a time when most Americans think the nation is on the wrong track, he president couched his assertion that the state of the union is strong in this way: “Despite our hardships, our union is strong. We do not give up. We do not quit. We do not allow fear or division to break our spirit.”

Though he made several pleas for bipartisan cooperation, the president could not hide his irritation with a GOP he sees as partisan and obstructionist. After listing tax cuts that we part of last year’s Recovery Act – “We cut taxes for small businesses. We cut taxes for first-time homebuyers. We cut taxes for parents trying to care for their children. We cut taxes for 8 million Americans paying for college” – he noted that Republicans in the chamber weren’t clapping.

“I thought I'd get some applause on that one,” he joked.

At another point, discussing how his proposed freeze on government spending “won't take effect until next year when the economy is stronger,” Republicans laughed, scoffing.

“That's how budgeting works,” the president ad-libbed, an edge in his voice.

He made clear his top priority. “I want a jobs bill on my desk without delay,” he said, though he also touched on energy, financial regulatory reform, education, exports, and lobbying and earmark reform.

Of health care reform – which has consumed so much time and political capital – the president made a push but offered no clear direction. Joking that “by now it should be fairly obvious that I didn't take on health care because it was good politics,” the president acknowledged about the health care bill that “the longer it was debated, the more skeptical people became. I take my share of the blame for not explaining it more clearly to the American people. And I know that with all the lobbying and horse-trading, the process left most Americans wondering, ‘What's in it for me?’”

“As temperatures cool, I want everyone to take another look at the plan we've proposed,” he said. “If anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know. Let me know. Let me know. I'm eager to see it. “

The president tried to re-claim the mantle of change. “I campaigned on the promise of change –- ‘Change we can believe in,’ the slogan went,” he said. “And right now, I know there are many Americans who aren't sure if they still believe we can change –- or that I can deliver it. But remember this –- I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I could do it alone.”

Source:blogs.abcnews.com/