Op-ed column: Obama's battles over US politico-economic distress
Published:Friday | January 28, 2011 | 12:00 AM
United States President Barack Obama gave a wonderful State of the Union address a few nights ago.
A CBS News poll reported a staggering 91 per cent approval rating, based on their question: "Do you approve or disapprove of the proposals the president made in his speech?" Those who watched the speech and disapproved were a mere 8 per cent. For a political leader, these are almost magic numbers.
The CBS polling unit reports "82 per cent of those who watched the speech said they approve of the president's plans for the economy, up from 53 per cent who approved before the speech. Eighty per cent said they approved of Mr Obama's plans for the deficit, in contrast to 45 per cent before the speech. Eighty-three per cent approved of Mr Obama's proposals regarding Afghanistan, which received only a 57 per cent approval rating beforehand."
Watching Obama, it was difficult not to rate the speech as wonderful. It was full of emotion, superb timing and reminiscent of good coach in the pre-game 'pep talk'. So, what's new.
Speaking of US democracy versus other states, he got a standing ovation as he suggested that if the "central government wants a railroad, they get a railroad, no matter how many homes are bulldozed. If they don't want a bad story in the newspaper, it doesn't get written. And yet, as contentious and frustrating and messy as our democracy can sometimes be, I know there isn't a person here who would trade places with any other nation on Earth." We know he can!
He touched on key issues facing the country - the comparative slide backwards in education, need for innovation in economic production, high-speed rail and universal broadband Internet, creating jobs to fight the nine per cent unemployment number, cutting the deficit and protecting Social Security and Medicare. All of this is perfect.
Biting at his heels
It is the issues he did not touch upon, however, that indicate his political and economic battles present and yet to come. He is constantly aware of the messiness of democracy - in the US, the Tea Party and a fractious right-wing funded by powerful lobby groups such as the National Rifle Association are constantly biting at his heels.
When he managed to get his health-care reform bill passed, he made essentially the same point about American democracy: "It isn't always tidy" he said, "It is almost never easy. But perhaps the greatest - and most difficult - challenge is to cobble together out of those differences the sense of common interest and common purpose that's required to advance the dreams of all people, especially in a country as large and diverse as ours."
Yet on Tuesday night, he said not a word about a ban on general sale of assault weapons and the 30-bullet magazine clips - like the one used in the Tucson Arizona shooting - that any madman can purchase in a gun shop, as easily as he might purchase a box of milk in the supermarket.
He spoke of Wall Street reform as if he had really managed to come to grips with the problem, when indeed he has not. He did speak of his trade deals with China, South Korea and others, as well as his push for clean energy.
The tenor of the message, however, admits of the view that he and the Democratic Party have a steep uphill battle when the symbolic bi-partisanship effort gives place to reality the morning after. We do, indeed, have to wish him well, for our economic fortunes are deeply intertwined with that of the US economy and its recovery.
World prosperity, too, depends heavily on what the US makes of the rise of China and whether or not the tendency to fear and overreaction prevails over good sense and sound judgement.
As it stands, President Obama and his cohort in governance seem to have the correct attitude. The political battles, however, which have significant economic con-sequences, are yet to be won.