Flanking the Opponent

I tuned into the State of the Union address by President Obama without watching the cable-news chatter beforehand (well, I heard a little of it, on MSNBC, as everyone filed into the chamber). I did not stay tuned in to hear the Republican response by Paul Ryan, who apparently is copying the style of Walter Mondale, and attempting to scare the American public, or the Tea Party response by Michele Bachmann, who earlier added to her reputation as one of the most clueless politicians today by her lack of knowledge about slavery and the constitution. Incidentally, the race for most clueless politician is a highly competitive one.

I read some responses to the speech today. It got some bad press from the left, and mostly congratulations from the reasonable conservative crowd, an ever-dwindling cohort personified by the likes of the New York Times' David Brooks. Obama seemed to be speaking to them--for the first and only time in my life, I am comparing Barack Obama to Stonewall Jackson, because it seemed to me that Obama was trying to win the center by a constant series of flanking moves.

This has been a rosy period for Obama. After being repudiated in the November elections, he had a productive lame duck session with Congress, and with his speech at the Tucson memorial last week re-asserted his leadership credentials. The State of the Union speech got high poll numbers, perhaps because it consisted almost entirely of Obama's charm--he didn't really say anything.

The event was distinguished by the attempt for both parties to appear civil. They sat in an integrated fashion, paired up like members of a bridal party. This seemed to dim the pep rally aspects, and kept rudeness at bay--no one yelled "You lie!" this year, and the far-right Supreme Court justices stayed home, so as not to be offended like Alito was last year. I was transfixed by the reactions of John Boehner, the new Speaker of the House, sitting over Obama's left shoulder. Obama did his best to make Boehner cry, and seemed to almost succeed, and then got Boehner to applaud over and over again. There were times when you could see the wheels in Boehner's head spinning. Obama would say something, and Boehner would search his memory--"Do I like this? By golly, I do!" and he would reluctantly clap. The first time Boehner didn't clap was when Obama said he wanted to cut subsidies for oil companies (this is where Joe Barton should have shouted something) and then was stone silent when he praised the Patient Protection Act, which only days before the House had voted to repeal.

Obama walked right down the center of the road. He made a few fobs to the left, praising gay soldiers, American Muslims, and the sadly unpassed Dream Act. But mostly he dodged and weaved, saying things that Republicans couldn't get too upset about (although one Congressman, Paul Broun, stayed home and tweeted about Obama being a Marxist). It was Obama the Conciliator, a style of governing which may be what America needs right now. The President was able to get some remarkable legislation passed in his first few years, but now he will have to work with a split Congress and his skills as a compromiser will really come to the fore.

I've been reading a book about Obama (a review will come shortly), and it has always been his way to listen to the other side, going back to his days at the Harvard Law Review. When he was a law professor he had his students read Antonin Scalia, for Pete's sake. The aforementioned Brooks once joked that it must take Obama a long time to order at restaurants, because he must spend a lot of time weighing the relative benefits of meat vs. fish.

But the truth seems to be that Obama knows what he is doing. After recent setbacks his popularity is higher than it's been in months. Aside from lunatic fringe types like Bachmann, Palin, and Gingrich, the Republicans seem to sense that they can work with the man. If the economy continues to improve, he will be re-elected with ease. If it doesn't, he will lose. If it stays the same, his charisma and savvy will likely return him to the White House. He is aided by the continual lack of of a viable Republican candidate. It was at this point four years ago that both Obama and Hillary Clinton had announced their candidacies. I believe the only Republican to officially announce so far is pizza magnate Herman Cain (and it's just an exploratory committee).

As for the meat of the speech, I liked it fine. He didn't wave too many red flags. It's one thing to praise gay soldiers and Muslims, it's another to suggest banning automatic weapons. He also didn't utter the word "unemployment" in his speech, which made it prominent by its omission. He made a good joke about salmon, but didn't mention climate. He was sure high on science and math teachers. I guess the country doesn't need any more English teachers.