RSS Feed MenuMy latest column at CNN.com discusses President Obama’s upcoming State of the Union speech.
As President Obama acknowledges, his administration hit a buzz saw in Massachusetts last week.
The president will respond as he always does to emergencies: with a speech. In this case, it’s his State of the Union address. The Obama team always assumes the best remedy for any Obama difficulty is more Obama.
But what to say in that speech?
The Obama team has been experimenting with a new theme — a sharp populist turn, attacking bankers and lobbyists. Here’s the president speaking in Elyria, Ohio, on January 22:
“I can promise you, there will be more fights in the days ahead. We’re having one of them right now — because I want to charge Wall Street a modest fee to repay taxpayers in full for saving their skin in a time of need. You can rest assured, we’re going to get that money — your money — back, each and every dime.”
In one short speech, the president promised or threatened a “fight” 15 times.
Will that trope continue into Wednesday’s State of the Union? If so, it would be a big mistake. It may win the president an immediate bounce in the polls by exciting downcast liberals and progressives. But that bounce will prove limited and short-lived, and it will come at the expense of more trouble not very far down the road.
Read the rest here.
Russ Carr // Jan 25, 2010 at 12:47 pm
I had similar words in my new column posted today:
http://www.intrepidmedia.com/column.asp?id=3850
It all goes hand-in-hand with the GOP victory in Massachusetts. Change is anathema to politicians. Any return to populist rhetoric now — on either side of the aisle — isn’t born from a desire for accomplishment, but as a means of jockeying for November. It’s a kick in the pants for the Democrats and fuel on the fire for Republicans, but even as their words grow more centrist, the voters are growing more divisive.
blowtorch_bob // Jan 25, 2010 at 12:59 pm
You got that one right. Obama is more like a consultant for Goldman Sachs, put into the Oval Office to advice his client of impending legislation and, if necessary, propose modifications.
I’m willing to bet Goldman Sachs has deep tentacles in just about every finance department in the G20.
Hopefully, enough like-minded people in the U.S. congress will rally and regain control of the U.S. economy away from the riverboat gamblers on Wall Street with Obama leading the charge. If that happens, yeah, then maybe you can call Obama a populist.
FYI: when the U.S. congress repealed the Glass-Steagal Act in 1999 only 10 Congressmen voted against it.
joemarier // Jan 25, 2010 at 1:18 pm
The way Truman describes his plan, it might as well be a government-run high-deductible HSA plan. Which would be pretty neat, relatively speaking.
LauraNo // Jan 25, 2010 at 3:22 pm
“GW The Populist” never rang true either, yet people thought they wanted to have a beer with him. Politicians do what works.