Tuesday’s prime-time address to both chambers of Congress marks a transition for Obama ” his last high-profile opportunity to speak to the public before voting in the first presidential nominating contests begins on February 1 with the Iowa caucuses.
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But the State of the Union address should be not only about past accomplishments and future potential, but also about the next 12 months. The White House said it will leave one seat empty in the first lady’s guest box to highlight the toll of gun violence on the country.
President Barack Obama will deliver a final State of the Union address Tuesday brimming with optimism – far more than most Americans possess. He’s vowed to campaign aggressively for the Democratic nominee, and his administration is seen as favoring Hillary Clinton, though the president won’t formally back a candidate during his party’s primary.
Franklin D Roosevelt’s Four Freedoms speech after his third election to the White House in 1941 stands out as an exception.
In addition to the official White House channels, you can of course watch the address on a regular old television or radio.
Aides say Mr. Obama wants to present an upbeat, optimistic view of America after seven years that will contrast with the gloomy portrayals offered by Republican candidates, a task aided by strong job creation numbers but complicated by continuing turmoil in the Middle East and elsewhere.
With time running out on his presidency, Obama knows it would be pointless to propose lots of new initiatives.
The acrimony was so bitter in 2009 that Joe Wilson, a Republican from SC, yelled, “You lie!” at the President during the 2009 State of the Union, a breach of protocol previously unthinkable in the modern era.
Obama’s former White House counsel, Gregory Craig, and his Guantanamo Bay special envoy, Cliff Sloan, laid some groundwork for the facility’s closure in a Washington Post op-ed two months ago. “So, for those who’ve cut the cord from cable and network TV: Whether you use a smart TV, web browser, mobile device, or tablet there’s a way for you to watch the President’s speech as it happens and on-demand”, White House chief digital officer Jason Goldman said in a statement.
This Friday, January 15, Destin Sandlin, Ingrid Nilsen, and Adande Thorne-three popular YouTube creators-will travel to Washington, D.C.to host a live YouTube Interview with President Obama.
The president won’t mention Trump by name, but all signs point to Obama delivering a rebuttal of the GOP presidential front-runner’s vision of America.
“There are very few lines from States of the Union that people can quote”, she added, “because they’re kind of boring speeches”. In December, the president presided over a naturalization ceremony at the National Archives for immigrants from 25 countries.In these new Americans we see our own American stories – our parents, our grandparents, our uncles, our cousins, Obama said. By 2014, his slogan became a pen and a phone – tools to work around Republicans who controlled the House and walloped Democrats by winning control of the Senate.
“I want us to be able, when we walk out this door, to say – we couldn’t think of anything else that we didn’t try to do”.
He’ll also focus on the future, not just his final year ahead, but the years beyond his presidency.
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As for foreign policy and the nuclear deal with Iran – a deal which had come under more scrutiny following Tehran’s launch of a ballistic missile test – Zelizer said “I think he wants to make sure the deal doesn’t come undone”. “If we make those arguments clearly and forthrightly and aren’t defensive, then I’m actually confident we will do just fine”.
