Waning Presidency

Obama’s [State of the] Union Address, which had no ambition, reflects his lack of support in Congress.

No one can say President Barack Obama is unable to give an excellent speech; governing is a different subject. His fifth State of the Union Address, given on Tuesday, Jan. 28, has become an implicit declaration of helplessness in the face of a hostile Congress, instead of being the expression of an ambitious political program. Narrowing the gap between the rich and the poor in the United States, [a gap] regarded as unacceptable by the president, is an undeniable goal. Obama has announced that he will turn to executive orders, which are an inadequate tool, to make up for his lack of congressional support.

Obama intended to use some determination in his speech to provide force for his dwindling agenda, which was focused on domestic issues. He also meant to appear as a leader who can govern on the margins of a Congress that is ignoring his calls for cooperation. That is illusive.

Executive orders represent a politically handicapped method of governance and they are not suitable for relevant initiatives. They lack the significance and the continuity characteristic of congressional legislation and they indicate the president as someone unable to enlist Congress in [achieving] his priorities. Obama is seriously running the risk of reducing his influence even more within the Republican-dominated Congress, as well as accelerating the decline of his presidency, which would definitely become hamstrung in the event that the Democrats lose the Senate in the decisive November elections.

Surveys are showing — with his popularity dwindling — that credibility is one of the president’s major problems. Most of the goals that were announced in his previous [State of the] Union address have been unfulfilled. It is not the first time that Obama has stated that “climate change is a fact” and has not contributed a solution to it, just as he has not found a solution for the gun control measures that were announced after the Newtown massacre. For the umpteenth time, Obama has promised to end the infamy of Guantanamo. He was about to order a bombing in Syria five months ago to end a genocidal regime, thus [Syria] deserved a mention in his speech.

The “year of action” announced by Obama may follow the same path. One exception could be a marginal agreement on immigration in Congress, taking into account that Republicans refuse to grant 11 million adults who are illegal immigrants American citizenship.