President affirms ‘We are still one people’ in speech aiming to appeal to divided Congress with persistent vision for American middle class

Barack Obama sought to rally a hostile Congress behind an uncompromising vision of a more equal America on Wednesday in a State of the Union address remarkable for its broad appeal for national unity – if rather less memorable for its new policy proposals.



Despite calling for an end to the partisan bickering that has paralysed Washington in recent years, the president’s emphasis on previously articulated Democratic priorities such as tax rises for the rich and improving lagging middle-class incomes, action on climate change, free college tuition, and infrastructure spending appeared to fall flat as Republicans sat stony-faced through much of the speech.

At times, Obama’s penultimate State of the Union address sounded like a valedictory speech aimed at defending his record rather than proposing legislation that the White House knows it has little chance of passing through the Republican-controlled Congress. After exhausting a laundry list of proposals trotted out over the last week, Obama acknowledged criticisms of his presidency, turning to focus on his legacy.

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“Over the past six years, the pundits have pointed out more than once that my presidency hasn’t delivered on this vision [of unity],” said Obama. “I still think the cynics are wrong. I still believe that we are one people. I still believe that together, we can do great things, even when the odds are long.”

Yet the more he called for unity, the less he seemed to get it. Rare Republican applause broke out when Obama pointed out: “I have no more campaigns to run,” to which a triumphant president shot back in a rare off-the-cuff retort: “I know, ’cos I won both of them’.”

He claimed credit for the resurgence of the US economy post-recession and argued that newfound financial strength in America meant it was time to improve middle-class incomes and “do more to restore the link between hard work and growing opportunity for every American”.

“Tonight, we turn the page,” he added, arguing that the economic recovery should pave the way “recapture the sense of common purpose that has always propelled America forward”.

But there were no policy prescriptions for campaign finance reform, constitutional amendments, or even the defiance to work around Congress that characterised last year’s address when Obama promised executive action in place of stalled legislation.

He called for Congress to grant legal authority to continue military action in Syria and Iraq and a lengthy outline, published separately, of the budget proposal that he intends to send to Congress.

Much of the president’s speech appeared aimed at setting the political agenda for the next presidential election campaign with long sections the appeared to re-imagine a political consensus he wished he had inherited.

“There are a lot of good people here, on both sides of the aisle. And many of you have told me that this isn’t what you signed up for – arguing past each other on cable shows, the constant fundraising, always looking over your shoulder at how the base will react to every decision,” said Obama. “Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. Imagine if we did something different.”

When he called for a trade liberalisation deal that most Democrats in Congress oppose, Republicans pointedly rose for one of their only standing ovations while the president’s party remained silent.

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Many Republicans rapidly headed for the exit, and waiting reporters in the so-called “spin room”, the second the president finished his hour-long address, while the White House chose to publish the full speech online before president even entered the room.

The newly elected Iowa senator Joni Ernst, who was chosen to give the official Republican rebuttal, chose not to respond to the speech itself, opting instead to emphasise how individual effort was the key to social mobility. “You don’t need to come from wealth or privilege to make a difference,” she said. “You just need the freedom to dream big, and a whole lot of hard work.”

Obama’s passion was reserved for challenges beyond the US. On climate change, the president pointed out that 2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record and said: “I am determined to make sure American leadership drives international action.”

And in international relations, where he revelled in Russia’s economic weakness after the sanctions introduced to punish its aggression in Ukraine. “Today, it is America that stands strong and united with our allies, while Russia is isolated, with its economy in tatters,” said Obama. “That’s how America leads – not with bluster, but with persistent, steady resolve.”

The same confidence was on display in a brief section on the battle against the Islamic State, which the president stressed could go on for some time, but was a sign of international resolve.

There was a even a nod to a long-stalled Nasa mission to Mars, which Obama said would soon see a major milestone when a US astronaut spends a year on the international space station to test the effects of long-term human habitation in space.

But he conceded the more earth-bound portion of this year’s State of the Union represented a very unusual policy speech: “Less a checklist of proposals, and [more a] focus on the values at stake in the choices before us.”