Obama’s First State of the Union

In the face of adversity over the past few days, we advised Obama to call upon the science of Bill Clinton, a political contortionist skilled at recovering from the worst fixes; and so Barack Obama, on the evening of his first State of the Union address, to the annoyance of the fiercest ideologues, appeared more like Reagan in his grand hours.

The man constantly recalled the Obama of the campaign trail, speaking with sumptuous rhythm and thoughtful inflexions. He was professorial when he mentioned, without rushing, all that came before him: the victories and glories as well as the crashes and evils, the American history of Omaha Beach, Black Tuesday in 1929, the last recession and the reasons, the bad and the sometimes good, for the colossal budgetary liabilities that he has inherited since taking office, including two wars and two Republican tax cuts.

But his speech was tinted with optimism, while he tackled the essential theme of the economy, unemployment, popular doubts, the possible decline but equally probable grand return of America. “Meanwhile, China is not waiting to revamp its economy. Germany is not waiting. India is not waiting. These nations—they’re not standing still. These nations aren’t playing for second place. They’re putting more emphasis on math and science. They’re rebuilding their infrastructure. They’re making serious investments in clean energy because they want those jobs. Well, I do not accept second place for the United States of America. As hard as it may be, as uncomfortable and contentious as the debates may become, it’s time to get serious about fixing the problems that are hampering our growth.”

If Obama intends to face up to the populist wave of the “Tea Parties”—mass anti-Washington movements inspired by the American colonists’ insurrections against the British Crown, which are currently overwhelming the control of their original Republican instigators—this call to the defense of the national economy might hit a bulls-eye. The Tea Parties draw on a population disoriented by the “subprime” drop, by the generalization of structural unemployment and its long-term effects. Just yesterday, they were a marginal fringe group in American politics, but due to the apparent inability of the public powers to fix these problems, the population has now given itself to revolting in all directions, despairing and dangerously cynical.

Obama responded to them, drawing up human experiences, both dramatic and exemplary, by quoting letters the White House has received from average Americans.

The president understands, and admitted, even if it was badly explained, that at least he is failing to convince his fellow citizens of the clarity of his objectives: a double security inspired by JFK and Roosevelt, in the face of global dangers as well as the socio-economic risks of capitalism, is becoming frightening and unbearable for the American middle class. Obama said, “We do not give up. We do not quit.”

But he hasn’t corrupted his rallying motto of the 2008 campaign against partisan quibbles, trapping passive Republicans in the benches by expressing surprise that they didn’t applaud the lowered taxes offered by his administration.

As for Healthcare Reform, the project that had been weakened by the loss of a Democratic super-majority in the Senate, he returned to it for two-thirds of his speech, and with aplomb and conviction: “if anyone from either party has a better approach that will bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare for seniors, and stop insurance company abuses, let me know.”

Combative, Obama wasn’t any less lucid: “I never thought that the mere fact of my election would usher in peace and harmony and some post-partisan era. But what frustrates the American people is a Washington where every day is Election Day.”

Even national defense, a sacred object of the Union since 2001, didn’t escape Congressional division; but Iraq, Afghanistan, and terrorism had only a reduced placed in this State of the Union Address. Global dangers mattered less this evening than the interior political perils that assail the presidency, aged by the pain of one year.