If any of us thought the State of the Union address Wednesday evening would create some kind of sea change in the political picture, we were mistaken.
First, of course, it would be naive to think so. When was the last SotU you remember that altered anything? It hasn't happened lately. The problem is that SotUs long ago ceased striving to inspire, and instead became a laundry-list of accomplishments, plans, projects, and (rarely) mea culpas of the President and his party. Obama did not disappoint those who expected the bland and boring.
Still, the tone was unusual -- a mostly unapologetic President, offering the occasional sop to populist trends, but pushing two more important themes: He won't abandon key elements of his agenda; and the opposition's obstructionism was not in the interests of the country. The White House had let it be known he would be feisty, and indeed he was, dashing Republican hopes that he might meekly submit to the "lesson of Massachusetts" (I told you they'd misread the meaning of Massachusetts. didn't I?)
Those who hoped that the Republican Party would abandon its negative stance on every Administration proposal were just as wrong. This was clear from the point where Obama talked about some of his tax cuts, the magical GOP solution to every problem, yet Republicans pulled another Boehner and sat silent. The President's cheery acknowledgment that he thought he'd get some credit on that line was perhaps the best point he scored, emphasizing the already clear message that Republicans will continue to resist any effort to carry out their responsibilities to their constituents and their country because it might be read as "giving the Democrats a victory," which might in turn create a few Democratic votes in the next election. In the day following the address, there was plenty more evidence of the same, if any were needed.
Will Obama's precedent-setting on-the-record session with Republicans today succeed in breaking the ice jam? Doubtful, but slightly more promising than the State of the Union Address.
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