Because It’s Probably Expected of Me By This Point: The State of the Union
The State of the Union is always interesting for me (“interesting” in that “I haven’t actually been able to watch one since President Bush ordered the troop surge in Iraq” and “interesting” in that “I knew all about this already”), but only vaguely. If you want a good presidential speech, look for emergency joint sessions of Congress or unannounced speeches, a la President Obama’s jobs speech last September, or his surprise “lol nobody’s going to win a debate on foreign policy with me” speech when he announced the death of Osama bin Laden.
Election year speeches by presidents up for reelection are always funny, because you can see the self-consciousness etched on their faces, and it shows in their words. This was a very politically safe speech — not in terms of rhetoric, but in terms of proposals. It also showcased, I think, the constraints this president has on his domestic agenda with an uncooperative Republican Party. (I mean, seriously, the GOP is worried they won’t look good in November because they haven’t gotten enough done. Well, that’s because they’re just the Party of No.)
There were no real policy proposals in this thing, and that disappoints me. I know the President doesn’t technically write legislation, but let’s be real: if the President says “this is a bill I want passed,” someone is going to write it and propose it. It’s derisively called Obamacare for a reason.
Maybe I’m disappointed by political realities. After two years of a lot of huge domestic accomplishments, 2011 had nothing but (staggeringly good) foreign policy achievements. A great American president needs to influence the world and home, but last year President Obama could only do one and not the other. It’s not really his fault — GOP intransigence is baffling. But it is, I suppose, the state of our union.
