Obama is traveling to Republican states in the days following his yearly address to Congress to advance his message of reconciliation between the parties, a longstanding goal he acknowledged during his speech has gone unfulfilled. “We tend to elect people who just give to our people, and I’d rather see them help people to take care of themselves, like Ronald Reagan”. “But it will only happen if we work together”.
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As the President observed near the end of his speech: “Democracy grinds to a halt … when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who agree with us”.
With presidential candidates including Democrat Bernie Sanders and Republican Marco Rubio in the audience, Obama structured his speech around four questions, the last of which was: “How can we make our politics reflect what’s best in us, and not what’s worst?” “So is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker”. He encouraged us to us to lay aside whatever divides us and find ways to move forward on common ground, knowing that doing so benefits all of us, including those who depend on our leadership around the world. He said voters should reject any policy that targets people for their race or religion. This isn’t a matter of political correctness.
Referencing terror threats around the globe, Obama defended his own efforts fighting Islamic State militants, and said: “Our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians”. He did reiterate his call for working with Republicans on criminal justice reform and finalizing an Asia-Pacific trade pact, and he also vowed to keep pushing for action on politically fraught issues such as curbing gun violence and fixing the nation’s fractured immigration laws.
The president used the speech to highlight many of his administration’s accomplishments since taking office in 2009.
Rottinghaus also told KTRH News the President delivered on some of his promises from last year’s State of the Union, but didn’t on many others.
Goren also points out that both the State Of The Union and the Republican Response from Nikki Haley were anti-Trump.
“I’m going to try to make it a little shorter”, he said.
HORSLEY: A White House spokesman praised Haley this afternoon for what he called her courageous willingness to speak out against Trump’s fiery rhetoric.
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“The President continues to be in denial of reality”, fellow GOP presidential contender Texas Sen. “The differences over trade, the differences over an economic strategy and creating jobs, you know, those differences are still there”, Grijalva said.
