Obama: ‘The Shadow of Crisis Has Passed, and the State of the Union Is Strong’

Confident. Aggressive. Even mocking. This is how Barack Obama appeared in the 2015 State of the Union address, the seventh and penultimate of his adventure in the White House. Obama praised “American strength and persistence,”* he took credit for having relaunched the economy and he asked for an ambitious plan of reforms and improvement to the fate of the middle class. He obviously thought and reflected on the legacy he hopes to leave for the country — that of a leader who has presided over a liberal and progressive transformation. Above all, Obama did not demonstrate any desire to compromise with the Republicans, whom he even openly ridiculed. At a certain point, noting that he has “no more campaign to run,” the president stopped, looked toward the Republicans and added, smiling, “I know, because I won both of them.”

The speech was entirely marked by the need, on the part of Obama and the Democrats, to define their political agenda with the upcoming presidential election in view. “If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments,” said Obama. “But let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.” The remainder of the speech was dominated by domestic economic topics, under the understanding that “the shadow of crisis has passed” and the necessity to use the two years that remain for this administration to fight for those who “have been left behind”* and up to now have not benefited from the recovery. Obama asked Congress to make the first two years of community college free for many students, he proposed tax breaks for education and infant health, and he asked for greater taxes for the rich and for large financial institutions.

Recalling that “we have risen from the recession,” that the deficit and health care spending are dropping, Obama asked himself, “Will we accept an economy where only a few of us do spectacularly well? Or will we commit ourselves to an economy that generates rising incomes and chances for everyone who makes the effort?” Thus, Obama reiterated the proposal to collect $320 billion in new taxes from the wealthiest — increasing taxes on capital gains for families with earnings above $500,000 and increasing tariffs for the 100 richest banks in the country — and using the new revenue to provide relief and tax breaks in favor of the middle class. “Middle-class economics works,” explained Obama, “expanding opportunity works, and these policies will continue to work as long as politics don’t get in the way.”

As time passed, the president became more and more derisive. To the Republicans who remained stubbornly seated and impassive faced with the list of economic advances, Obama said, “there’s good news, people.” From the economy, the speech then expanded to other topics. Obama defended the need to intervene as soon as possible to fight climate change. “Well, I’m not a scientist,” he said, “But … the best scientists in the world are all telling us that our activities are changing the climate, and if we do not act forcefully, we’ll continue to see rising oceans, longer, hotter heat waves, dangerous droughts and floods, and massive disruptions.” He touched also on international topics, proudly laying claim to having initiated a military action — the only one of his presidency — against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria — “with the collaboration of the entire international community.”*

Obama’s words and tone appeared in tune with the aggressive image the president has sought to resume over these last months. The midterm elections, with the Republican victory and their control over Congress, convinced Obama that the possibility of compromise, already so difficult in the past, is now out of the question. In a private meeting with Democratic representatives and senators in a Baltimore hotel last week, Obama explained that he did not have the slightest desire to become a “lame duck” for the next two years and that, to the contrary, he wants to play “head on.”* In an unofficial declaration to The Washington Post, one of those present said, “Obama appeared positive and energetic, alert to his legacy and his place in history.”*

This new leap of confidence is, for that matter, sustained by a popularity that, after months of challenge, has started to rise. A Washington Post/ABC News poll from Jan. 19 shows that 50 percent of participants approve of Obama’s policies. It’s a noteworthy result that brings him back to the numbers of May 2013, and can be justified mainly by the economic recovery. Forty-one percent of Americans say today that they see the U.S. economy in a positive light — it was 27 percent last October. Obama shows that he can win consensus among many social and political groups: among the Democrats, moderates, Hispanics, the youth and even evangelical Christians who traditionally prefer Republicans.

Strong from the new popularity indices, and with the support of a particularly aggressive and studied public relations campaign led by experts in Silicon Valley, the president had launched himself into a series of initiatives over the last few days that culminated in the State of the Union address — continual participation on different social media platforms, from Facebook to LinkedIn to Medium, and a tour of rallies and meetings over the next few days that will include centers in Idaho and Kansas. At the same time, Obama has shown that he does not at all seek the political consensus of the Republicans; he used his executive powers to pass immigration measures and reopen diplomatic relations with Cuba, and he threatened the veto during confrontations on important Republican legislative initiatives, from the authorization of the Keystone XL oil pipeline to new sanctions against Cuba.

“The president seeks an agreement, if possible, with the Republicans,”* said one of the most heeded advisers of the White House, Dan Pfeiffer, on Sunday. In reality, almost none of the initiatives outlined in last night’s speech, with perhaps the exception of those related to investments in infrastructure, has any possibility of garnering the decisive vote of Republicans in Congress. However, what interests Obama and the Democrats at this point, more than the concreteness of results, is outlining a strategy with the 2016 presidential election in view. “They’re doing a better job at creating attention around the fact that they actually have a plan, a series of things they want to do,” explained Simon Rosenberg, the founder of the liberal think tank, New Democrat Network.

* Editor’s note: These quotations are translated accurately, but could not be verified as stated in the original article.