CHICAGO — President Obama has signaled that his fourth and possibly last State of the Union address Tuesday will be his most partisan — a stark contrast to last year’s message of unity following the shooting of Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
In a two-minute video distributed yesterday by his re-election campaign, Obama told supporters Tuesday night’s remarks would serve as a “bookend” to a speech he made last month in Kansas, where he accused congressional Republicans of protecting Wall Street at the expense of working Americans.
Obama yesterday described his “central mission as president” to restore a nation where “everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules.”
He said he would lay out a “blueprint for an economy that’s built to last,” including plans to improve American manufacturing, energy production and workers’ skills, and bring about what he deemed “a return to American values.”
His preview all but guaranteed the State of the Union address would invoke the income-inequality arguments that ignited the Occupy Wall Street movement, while drawing charges of class warfare from his opponents.
“We can go in two directions,” Obama said. “One is toward less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.”
The Obama campaign hopes to use the State of the Union as a launching pad for the president’s re-election effort. Tuesday’s speech will also provide tea leaves for the campaign’s re-election strategy: Whether it sees its path to victory as a matter of mollifying independents or of charging up its base.
A New York Times/CBS poll released last week showed only 31 percent of independent voters favoring Obama, down from 52 percent in 2008.
And according to Gallup, the president averaged a job approval rating of 44 percent for his third full year in office, which ended Thursday. The third-year ratings for George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush were higher than Obama’s. Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter’s were lower, though: 44.7 percent and 37 percent.
Daniel.Libit@thedaily.com
In a two-minute video distributed yesterday by his re-election campaign, Obama told supporters Tuesday night’s remarks would serve as a “bookend” to a speech he made last month in Kansas, where he accused congressional Republicans of protecting Wall Street at the expense of working Americans.
Obama yesterday described his “central mission as president” to restore a nation where “everybody gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share and everybody plays by the same set of rules.”
He said he would lay out a “blueprint for an economy that’s built to last,” including plans to improve American manufacturing, energy production and workers’ skills, and bring about what he deemed “a return to American values.”
His preview all but guaranteed the State of the Union address would invoke the income-inequality arguments that ignited the Occupy Wall Street movement, while drawing charges of class warfare from his opponents.
“We can go in two directions,” Obama said. “One is toward less opportunity and less fairness. Or we can fight for where I think we need to go: building an economy that works for everyone, not just a wealthy few.”
The Obama campaign hopes to use the State of the Union as a launching pad for the president’s re-election effort. Tuesday’s speech will also provide tea leaves for the campaign’s re-election strategy: Whether it sees its path to victory as a matter of mollifying independents or of charging up its base.
A New York Times/CBS poll released last week showed only 31 percent of independent voters favoring Obama, down from 52 percent in 2008.
And according to Gallup, the president averaged a job approval rating of 44 percent for his third full year in office, which ended Thursday. The third-year ratings for George W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George H.W. Bush were higher than Obama’s. Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter’s were lower, though: 44.7 percent and 37 percent.
Daniel.Libit@thedaily.com
