That is how the two presidents who preceded Obama tried to use the State of the Union Addresses they delivered at the same point, heading into their final year in the Oval Office.
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CBS 2’s Marissa Bailey reports in his final State of the Union address, President Obama is taking it up a notch when it comes to social media.
His words were unexpectedly echoed by South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was selected to give the Republican response to Obama’s address.
Despite his desire to broadcast optimism, Obama faces the reality of a looming election that renders him a lame duck and is brimming with distrust of Washington and ruling elites, as reflected in the populism of GOP front-runner Donald Trump.
“We can’t afford to go down that path. It won’t deliver the economy we want, or the security we want, but most of all, it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world”.
But if part of his legacy depends on seeing a Democrat returned to the White House, there was one Republican the president didn’t want to see embraced. He’s expected cast an optimistic vision for the future that builds on his two terms in office, while acknowledging that sweeping change has sparked anxieties for some citizens.
He said the American people should know that with or without Congressional action, ISIL will learn the same lessons as terrorists before them. “But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there”. “And because we did – because we saw opportunity where others saw only peril – we emerged stronger and better than before”, the excerpts said.
Obama is eager for a Democrat to win the White House to preserve his legacy, but anger over his policies and fears about security threats have helped push non-traditional candidates to the fore in the Republican and, to a lesser extent, the Democratic races to succeed him.
The remarks are aimed at Republican candidates, including Ted Cruz, who has said he’d carpet bomb the Islamic State group. Bernie Sanders, who is running for the Democratic nomination.
President Obama confessed that he feels he failed to bridge the partisan divide and called that one of the few regrets of his presidency. If the near-Bushian undertones weren’t evident enough, Obama continued, even more boldly, “It may take time, but we have long memories, and our reach has no limit”. The Pentagon said the sailors had drifted into Iranian waters after encountering mechanical problems.
“Last year, Vice President Biden said that with a new moonshot, America can cure cancer”. But the president’s unfailing ability to look past the world’s daily obstacles is a strength as much as a weakness. Made an overture to new House Speaker Paul Ryan by highlighting his interest in fighting poverty.
Obama said American led a coalition of more than 60 counties to cut of ISIL’s financing, disrupt their plots, flow of fighters and stamp out their “vicious ideology”, with almost 10,000 air strikes.
Earlier, in an interview with NBC’s Today host Matt Lauer, he mocked the idea that Trump might one day be delivering a State of the Union Address as president.
He is likely to tout last year’s Iran nuclear deal and improved US-Cuba relations as achievements, while addressing the US fight against Islamic State, which has generated criticism from Republicans for being too meagre. The White House expects the situation to be resolved quickly.
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She also took a shot at Obama’s foreign policy record, saying a Republican president would “make worldwide agreements that were celebrated in Israel and protested in Iran, not the other way around”.
