The comeback kid

Published January 22, 2015

by Gary Pearce, Talking About Politics, January 21, 2015.

President Obama's speech last night showed he has a knack for coming back after a setback - and a knack for the comeback quip.

 

Three things about the night: (1) How Obama framed the debate (2) the partisan debate over bipartisanship and (3) the split-screen social media experience of watching political events like what Twitter dubbed #SOTU.

 

Framing the Debate

How good was the speech? Well, Democrats wish he had given it before the 2014 elections. And they liked the way he set up the battles to come in Washington this year and in the 2016 elections.

 

It helped, of course, that he had good economic news to talk about. As he chided the dour Republicans, “That’s good news, people.”

 

He framed the fight as good versus evil, fairness versus unfairness, Democrats fighting for the middle class while Republicans cater to the 1 percent. He said “we’ve turned the page” on the recession (read: “Bush”) and are creating more jobs since 1999 (read: “the last time we had a Democratic President, named Clinton”). Bill and Hill had to love that.

 

As one tweet noted during the speech, there probably wasn’t one idea in it that doesn’t get 70 percent support in the polls. The President put himself and the party on high ground for the battles ahead.

 

Partisanship About Bipartisanship

 

After sharply drawing the battle lines, Obama tried a difficult pivot by going back to his 2004 message: “There’s not a Democratic America or Republican America, there’s the United States of America.”

 

You wouldn’t know it by the reaction from Republicans in the hall and afterward. Things still look pretty divided.

 

One big divide is over what constitutes bipartisanship. To Obama, it’s passing the program he outlined. To congressional Republicans, it’s passing theirs. And never the twain shall meet.

 

Yes, we citizens yearn for the two parties to “put aside politics” and “work together” and “do their job.” But there is a fundamental divide in Washington and across the country about what that means. And the divide is over the role of government.

 

Democrats say government can do things to help people and, especially, protect them from the depredations of the free market. Republicans say government can’t do anything, period.

 

That’s a deep gap to bridge.

 

(A new book traces this fundamental debate over government back to the 1966 election: “Landslide: LBJ and Ronald Reagan at the Dawn of a New America,” by Jonathan Darman. Check it out.)

 

Even as he called on Republicans to rise about the fray, Obama couldn’t resist a shot. When he said he’d run his last campaign, somebody on the Republican side clapped. He shot back, “I know, because I won both of them.” It sounded too much like the Obama of “you’re likeable enough, Hillary.” Better he had just smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”

 

Split-Screen

 

How did we ever watch political events without Twitter? As you listen to the speech, you can follow the commentary of your choice on Twitter. It’s like being at a basketball game, except people scream on screen rather than at the refs.

 

Judging from Twitter, Obama clearly roused his base. He had Democrats pumped up from the get-go. And Republicans, too. From their get-go, their response was: “Socialism, big government, higher taxes, blah, blah, blah.”

 

Speaking of being onscreen, you almost felt sorry for John Boehner. He had to sit there mute while the President pounded him like a piсata. He had to sit beside Joker Joe Biden popping up to applaud every minute or so. And he knew that millions of people were watching every gesture and facial expression he made. 

 

You couldn’t help but stare at him: his skin tone almost exactly matched his red leather chair. He looked like some kind of lizard taking on the coloration of his natural surroundings.

 

All in all, it was a night that put the fun back into politics – for a night.

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January 22, 2015 at 8:50 am
Frank Burns says:

America longs for the day that we have a president with stature and gravitas. The behavior of this president is akin to a teenager. He also acts as if the 2014 election never happened. Let's hope this Congress can motivate Obama just as it did with a GOP majority when it dragged Clinton along kicking and screaming to fiscal responsibility and good policy.

January 22, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Norm Kelly says:

'Democrats say government can do' everything. Fill in the blank with any word you choose, and demons will agree that government is the solution. It does not matter what the question is, in the mind of socialist party members, the answer is another government program, preferably at the central planner level. Proof: socialized medicine & taking over college loans.

I like to give credit where credit is due. It's hard to find items of merit when responding to lib blatherings, but I try hard to find tidbits that are right on the money. Fortunately, there is one in this post. It's almost like the author forgot what he was doing and decided to insert some honesty, some truth. Could be a lack of sleep staying up late to catch all the praise from the media allies for a speech well read. Here it is: 'He had to sit beside Joker Joe Biden'. Even libs realize that Joe is nothing but a joke. He's probably the saddest vice president we've had in over 50 years. Makes Sarah P seem like a God send in comparison. No lib would go that far, so I figure why not insert my own truth and honesty right after some truth from the author.

We can only hope that enough Republicans have what it takes to take this country back, move us in the right direction, as well as in the proper direction. Let's start with the occupiers biggest move toward socialism: socialized medicine. Hopefully Republicans can start moving in the direction of dismantling this disaster.