Did Obama Lay Out a Winning Agenda for 2012 in His State of the Union Address? >
Obama Played It Safe
This State of the Union speech will likely be forgotten by the beginning of next week
January 25, 2012
About Ron Bonjean:
Ron Bonjean is a partner with Singer Bonjean Strategies and the owner of the Bonjean Company, both full service public affairs firms. He was chief of staff for the Senate Republican Conference under Sen. Jon Kyl and the top spokesman for then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert, then-Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, then-U.S. Commerce Secretary Don Evans, and other House members.
As the New Year begins, millions of Americans make resolutions about things like losing weight, working less, creating more family time. Most of these admirable goals fall short after a couple of weeks.
This year's State of the Union delivered by President Obama falls into this category. This speech will likely be forgotten by the beginning of next week.
[With Fairness, Obama Finds a Winning State of the Union Theme.]
The president repeated his vision of class warfare, challenged Congress, re-emphasized clean energy, and reminded Republicans that he is going to be a force to contend with during this year's election.
What makes it so forgettable is that it was such a partisan speech masked in a populist tone. Therefore, it fell under the thematic of Washington gridlock that most Americans are expecting this year. Obama missed an opportunity to find a couple of big-ticket ideas that could be used to show bipartisanship over the next several months capped by legislative victories.
Instead Obama played it safe and chose to keep his base happy. He has officially thrown the marker down and is running against Congress. His campaign is now centered upon the gridlock themes because he does not have the capacity to create bipartisan victories.
[State of the Union Speech Shows Few Opportunities for Congressional Action.]
Once we witnessed the president deciding against creating thousands of jobs with the rejection of the Keystone Pipeline, we all knew that the speech would likely pander to the base.
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- Other Arguments
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#1499
No — Presidents have at best only a marginal ability to shape their own political context
DAVID CROCKETT, Author of 'Running Against the Grain: How Opposition Candidates Win Presidential Elections'
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#2268
No — Obama didn't take any blame for America's problems
LARA BROWN, Professor at Villanova University
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#3269
No — President may call his speech a "blueprint," but the design rests on a flawed foundation
FORD O'CONNELL, Republican Strategist, Conservative Activist, and Political Analyst
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#3269
No — If Republicans come up with a compelling counter-narrative, Obama's agenda will not prevail
STEPHANIE SLADE, Project Director at The Winston Group
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#63019
Yes — Obama's speech was directed at the voting public, not a lawmaking Congress
DONNA R. HOFFMAN, Co-Author of 'Addressing the State of the Union: The Evolution and Impact of the President's Big Speech'
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#71415
Yes — Even knowing the president's case for re-election is a defensive one, it could still work
MATT SCHLAPP, Founder of Cove Strategies
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#81822
Yes — Democrats, Republicans, and independents all gave the speech high marks
KRYSTAL BALL, MSNBC Contributor and Former Democratic Nominee for Congress in the First District of Virginia
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