Here is an article from David Gergen of CNN discussing what he felt were the good and the bad points of the State of the Union Address from President Obama and the Republican response from Florida Senator Marco Rubio:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/opinion/gergen-sotu/index.html?hpt=hp_bn7
(CNN) -- Neither the State of the Union address by
President Barack Obama nor the response by Sen. Marco Rubio will ever
find a place in the anthology of best American speeches, but together
they were important entries in the political dialogue. Before they fade
into memory, perhaps a few words are in order about the highs and lows
of the evening -- at least from this vantage point:
The most savored thought:
Who could have imagined a decade ago hearing an African-American
deliver the State of the Union and a Latino offering the opposition's
response? No other advanced country in the world has so fully embraced
diversity.
Yes, it is true that in
2009 an Indian-American gave the response, but still the country has
needed to have more Latinos advance into political leadership. To have
Obama and Rubio speak back-to-back was special.
The emotional highlight: After a rather pedestrian
opening, the president's speech soared at the end as he called out the
victims of gun violence and demanded a vote in their honor. It's hard to
remember oratory that has worked so effectively in a State of the
Union.
Cody Keenan, please join
the president in taking a bow. Keenan is the 32-year old who just became
chief speechwriter at the White House. He has been known there in the
past as the deputy who had the account for eulogies and commencements --
and in those closing moments, we saw that the president chose the right
person to succeed the highly respected Jon Favreau. And yes, the
victims deserve a vote!
The biggest disappointment: For
the president, this speech was probably his last opportunity to break
open the impasse over federal deficits. Only a game-changing proposal
had any chance of success -- putting a bold offer on the table of
significant changes in Medicare and Social Security along with a tax
overhaul in exchange for the GOP dropping the sequester and accepting
near-term investments in infrastructure and the like.
But the president never
stepped up. Indeed, without admitting it, he is in retreat from the
original Simpson-Bowles proposal to lower the national debt as a
percentage of gross domestic product. That is a huge setback for the
country.
The most pleasant surprise:
In days leading up to the address, White House aides had been dropping
broad hints to the press that a newly combative Obama would once again
stick it to Republicans. Not an olive branch, reported Politico, but a
cattle prod. Instead, Obama wisely chose to use tempered, constructive
language in addressing the other side. That didn't change the atmosphere
much in Washington -- but give the president credit. He didn't make it
worse either. It would be good to hear the Republicans act in the same
spirit.
he best idea:
Among the many proposals Obama set forth, his argument that America
should provide quality preschool for every child deserves special
attention. Research shows that on average, a low-income child enters
kindergarten with a much smaller vocabulary than a high-income child and
will likely never make up the gap. Yet one wondered as the president
spoke: Whatever happened to the promise that every child would also have
quality K-12?
The worst idea:
It is one thing for the federal government to intervene in early public
education because the system is so deeply in need of reform. But it is
another thing entirely to follow the president's notion that the federal
government should begin regulating colleges and universities to ensure
they are providing good education at affordable prices. Yes, schools
must keep tighter control over tuition increases and provide more online
courses at cheaper prices, but the last thing we need is for Washington
to inject itself deeply into higher education. America has the best
colleges and universities in the world; they are a crown jewel. If they
ain't broke, Washington shouldn't try to fix them.
What was left out: Obama
insisted that his many spending proposals wouldn't add a dime to the
deficits. That was risible. Of course, they will cost lots of money --
he just forgot to tell us the price tags and how he would pay for them.
Rubio wasn't much
better: He said where Republicans wanted to go on issues, but he rarely
told us how they would get there. For example, how exactly would they
now overhaul Medicare? And both men ducked conversations about some of
our deeper, underlying problems.
Case in point: The
United States is undergoing a dramatic shift in childbearing so that
half the children born to mothers under 30 are born out of wedlock. We
know as well that a child born out of wedlock is more likely to
experience poverty and lack an adequate education. We don't need our
political leaders to chastise single mothers -- they bear some of the
toughest burdens in society -- but we do need our leaders to promote the
values of marriage and to demand more responsible fatherhood. The
president at least hinted at the problem, but neither man really
wrestled with it.
State of the Union
addresses might have become boring for many, but they are important.
Since Woodrow Wilson, they have been an annual ritual, giving the
nation's most powerful elected leader an opportunity to tell Congress
and the country what faces us and what we must do as a people. This
year's address and its response seemed middling -- some great moments,
some clunkers. Sadly, they didn't seem to move us forward. The State of
the Union that does that is the one that will make the anthologies.
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