Take a fresh look at what Obama has achieved during the past six years. “We’ve seen the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health-care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years.”
Maybe a Republican politician would put it slightly differently — maybe with a sneer and some added self-congratulation. But there it is. The smart guy at the front of the room has handed his sworn enemies what they want: rapid economic growth, deficit cuts, and a dynamic market.
Of course, now they don’t want it because it comes as a gift from their rival. But that’s their problem. And it makes them look really, really silly.
The New Yorker’s analyst, John Cassidy described the President as “self-assured, glib, and, at times, bordering on bumptious” in his latest SOTU address. His colleague, Jeff Shesol, describes Obama’s speech as “hale and fit, weighing in at around sixty-five hundred words and almost exactly sixty minutes.”
For Obama to complete the triumph over Republican bad behaviors and worse intentions, he needs to reestablish his creds. He needs to “create at least a little more public confidence in his plans for the rest of his time in office.” Given last night’s performance, even a Republican would have to admit he’s well on his way.
Long constrained by his own overcautiousness, he has, for several months now, been parting by degrees with his reluctance to talk about economic growth and job gains. As recently as April, in a speech about the minimum wage, he offered no indication that the economy was improving, except to say—a bit accusingly—that “those at the top are doing better than ever.” By summer, as the midterm elections approached, he had warmed to saying that, “by almost every measure, we are better off now than we were when I took office.” Last night’s address featured his most full-throated expression of satisfaction about the recovery yet. He has, in his phrase of choice, “turned the page.”
The reason this matters is that it’s not, in the end, only about taking credit; it’s about credibility. President Obama won’t have much of the latter unless he claims more of the former. By reminding Americans how far the nation has come since the financial crisis of 2008, and what it took to get here, Obama can create at least a little more public confidence in his plans for the rest of his time in office. Of course, that doesn’t mean he’ll have much success getting his agenda through Congress. But, if he sticks to his own story, and tells it repeatedly, he might have at least a fighting chance of winning an argument with the G.O.P. over, say, what elements to include in a tax-reform deal, or which party can, in 2016, be trusted with the hopes of middle-class Americans. Stay tuned for more good news, people. …JeffShesol,NewYorker
Cross-posted from Prairie Weather
graphic via shutterstock.com