President Barack Obama gave a solid speech last night, carefully explaining his policies and proposing new plans for helping the middle class.
The trouble is that nobody will remember it in a month.
Presidential speeches come in two types: those few that are enduring, and those many that do little more than fill a news cycle. The enduring ones have several things in common: they are generally made in a time of crisis, and they outline themes that constitute a hallmark of the presidency. For instance, in March 1947 President Harry Truman summarized the strategy of containment against the Soviet Union, which would guide U.S. policy for decades to come.
State of the Union addresses almost never fit either condition. One exception was in 2002, when President George W. Bush coined the term "Axis of Evil" - which for better or worse came to symbolize his administration's policies. But other than that lone exception, not a single address (out of the hundreds given) has made any impression upon history.
Mr. Obama's speech was not particularly memorable, either. It was not meant to be. The speech focused primarily on domestic issues like jobs and education; stuff like this a great speech does not make. There are probably at least fivespeechesthe presidenthas madewhich overshadow this one (funny how most of them were written by Obama himself). Indeed, I doubt that half the people at my college even knew that there was the State of the Union address yesterday.
Like last year's address, this year's will probably be quickly overshadowed by other news. Its likely that even the most politically passionate can't recall a word of the 2009 quasi-State of the Union. And as for the 2008 address - most people probably don't even remember Mr. Bush making it.
Last Thursday, House Majority Whip James Clyburn and Congressmen Keith Ellison and Jim Himes delighted a new group of students and interns from across DC in the latest installment of 21st Century Democrats' Youth Leadership Speaker Series!
This past Tuesday, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar spoke in front of a group of interns and students as part of the 21st Century Democrats' Youth Leadership Speaker Series.
The 21st Century Democrats' Youth Leadership Speaker Series is off to a great start teaching and inspiring tomorrow's progressive leaders of the Democratic Party with speakers like Congressman Barney Frank, Congressman Dennis Kucinich, and--soon--Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.
It is an obvious point that the most moving part of the President's speech was the part about Ted Kennedy's letter. With Teddy's death so recent, and his family there to hear the historic speech, it was truly a special moment. And reading the full text of Kennedy's letter to the President this morning turned me into a weeping basket case. But the importance of the letter, and the point President Obama made about it in his speech, goes far beyond sentimentality. The letter was a handoff, and in his speech Obama seemed to accept the baton.
The handoff I am referring to is not mainly a generational handoff, as the youngest of his legendary Kennedy generation passing the baton to another inspiring young President. Much more than that, it was a philosophical handoff rich in history and in symbolism, not only on health care but on the broader progressive mission.
Kennedy was writing about health care, but also about more fundamental principles of the progressive philosophy.
When the White House announced last week that the President would be addressing a joint session of Congress on the health care issue, I suggested that the President was raising the stakes not just through the roof but to the stars beyond. Well, he hit the jackpot tonight. I have been listening closely to Presidential speeches for about 35 years now, have watched quite a few oldies but goodies from the past, have even contributed ideas to a fair share of speeches in the Clinton years, and I am sitting here thinking that was one of the very best Presidential speeches I have ever heard. JFK's inaugural and a couple of FDR's best are the only ones I can think of that moved me so much. More importantly, though, he did everything he needed to do:
Lay out clearly what he strongly believes in
Make a powerful argument for why we need to get this done
Answer the phony scare tactics
Fire up the people around the country who want to get this done to keep working to make it happen
On the public option, as I expected him to do given his long-term strategy, he kept his options open. No one should feel surprised that he did that given that he has been clear from the beginning that he is going to be open to negotiations with Senators like Snowe and Ben Nelson on the issue. But I was pleased that he made clear not only that he was for a public option, but gave a full-throated multi-paragraph defense of it. He did what public option advocates needed him to do, which was to make clear that he supported it.
I was also very happy that the President took the Republicans on quite forcefully. While continuing to offer his hand, he made clear he wasn't going to take their BS any longer without pushing back.
As one who has been unhappy about a fair amount of Obama's communications strategy on health care up until now, I came away from tonight's speech a very happy man. He took a very big gamble, but I think he will get a great a pay-off from it. He stood and delivered. Now I just hope Congress will find it within itself to do the same.
Some people don't seem to like that I am not totally enthralled and inspired by the remarkable speeches at the Democratic convention so far. While I think the speeches have been decent, it is true that I am not enthralled. In the extended entry, I explain why, and also explain what I am looking for in these speeches.
Yesterday, John Edwards spoke at the NC Young Dems conference and focused on issues such as getting out of Iraq, universal health care, raising the minimum wage, and the right to organize in NC, a taboo subject in that state. (photo credit: Sara Davis, AP)
Although the conference was about state races, both of the remaining candidates sent surrogates to speak at the conference. I know James Carville was a lunch time speaker and I believe Chelsea Clinton was a speaker too. Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark, NJ spoke as a supporter for Obama. And I wouldn't doubt if they continued to lobby JRE for an endorsement.
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