SOTU Concluding Thoughts

By Dave

Well, first let me say. Live blogging is no joke, it's a lot of work. It's meant, I think, as a first impression type of analysis. What are the things that stick out? What was the initial reaction to certain ideas? Etc. I had fun. Hopefully, it is at least somewhat interesting to readers.

Based on this speech, this is obviously a President focused on domestic issues. The number one priority is to improve what's going on here at home. He's clearly focused on issues abroad. But he barely spent a couple of minutes on foreign policy and only briefly touched on Iran and North Korea.

The bulk of this speech was dedicated to 'feeling your pain.' He made it clear again and again that he knew how people were feeling and he empathized. It was also very policy heavy. Lot's of explaining the rationale for previous policies, and laying the ground for new policies.

A big focus, predictably, was jobs. I'm generally skeptical of the government's ability to create jobs, but I understand the need for the administration to focus on this issue. Some of Obama's ideas seem like they could actually get the job done (no pun intended). Tax breaks and credits for small businesses to hire new people, eliminating the capital gains tax for investing in small businesses, and providing more credit for small businesses all could go a long way to creating jobs.

Again, this is a president who is believes that government needs to work. He's not a socialist, and he's not a corporatist as his critics on the far right and left like to charge. He believes in an effective, active government but look at his policy proposals. Almost all of them try to improve or work with market forces to improve the quality of life for Americans. None of his proposals called for the government to be a primary player. Rather the government will act as a facilitator and a supporter.

I think he needs to drive this political philosophy home in a more forceful and direct fashion.  I know he prefers to show not tell. But this is a narrative that needs to be explicitly spelled out again and again.

Lastly, he was reassuring. He spoke plainly, honestly, and was straight forward. This wasn't the soaring rhetoric of the Obama campaign but it put me at ease and if you've talked to me lately, you know that I have not been at ease. I think this type of talk will resonate with people. It's easy to understand andjust dissipates the shrillness that pervades our political discourse.

Well, these are just some preliminary thoughts. What did you think?