President says it’s biggest regret of presidency but appeals to America’s better self in calling for rejection of hostile rhetoric: ‘We can’t afford to go down that path’

Barack Obama admitted his regret that he will leave the US more, not less, polarised when he departs office a year from now, using his final State of the Union address to urge the nation not to succumb to demagogues.



The man who declared “We are not a collection of red states and blue states. We are the United States of America” while campaigning in Iowa in 2008 conceded that, as his presidency comes to close, the American political divide runs deeper than ever.

Calling on Americans to “fix our politics”, Obama warned that “public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention” – one of many thinly disguised jibes at the shrill politics of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump.

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“It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency – that the rancour and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better,” Obama said in Washington on Tuesday night. “There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”

It was a reflection not only on the years of bitter deadlock in Congress that have frustrated Obama’s agenda, manifest in bursts of applause from Democrats and stony silence from Republicans during his speech, but a nod towards the election contest to come. Obama framed it as a dangerously polarising battle for the soul of America: Trump has called for a ban on Muslims and exploited popular anger.

“As frustration grows, there will be voices urging us to fall back into tribes, to scapegoat fellow citizens who don’t look like us, or pray like us, or vote like we do, or share the same background,” he said. “We can’t afford to go down that path. It won’t deliver the economy we want, or the security we want, but most of all, it contradicts everything that makes us the envy of the world.”

Obama was giving his seventh and last State of the Union address and promised it would be shorter than its predecessors: it came in at 5,462 words and lasted just over an hour. Compared with the heady days of 2007, the hair is greyer, the idealism bruised; the refrain of “Yes, we can!” feels quaint. But Obama was determined to focus on the long-term future rather than a wistful farewell.

“Will we respond to the changes of our time with fear, turning inward as a nation, and turning against each other as a people?” he asked. “Or will we face the future with confidence in who we are, what we stand for, and the incredible things we can do together?”

He posed four big questions for the country to answer, regardless of who the next president is, or who controls the next Congress. “First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy?

“Second, how do we make technology work for us, and not against us – especially when it comes to solving urgent challenges like climate change?

“Third, how do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman?

“And finally, how can we make our politics reflect what’s best in us, and not what’s worst?”

The final point, he said, was perhaps the most important. “The future we want – opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids – all that is within our reach,” he said. “But it will only happen if we work together. It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates. It will only happen if we fix our politics.”

A better politics does not mean agreeing on everything, he continued, “but democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens. It doesn’t work if we think the people who disagree with us are all motivated by malice, or that our political opponents are unpatriotic. Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise, or when even basic facts are contested, and we listen only to those who agree with us.

“Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get attention. Most of all, democracy breaks down when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter; that the system is rigged in favor of the rich or the powerful or some narrow interest.”

To Democratic cheers and applause, he called for change to the electoral system, including an end to the practice of drawing US congressional districts “so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around”, reducing the influence of money in politics, “so that a handful of families and hidden interests can’t bankroll our elections”, and making voting easier, not harder.

In a Kennedy-esque reference to “a new moonshot”, Obama said he had been inspired by Vice-President Joe Biden to call for America to lead in the race to find a cure for cancer.

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Obama urged citizens to avoid cynicism and vote, speak out, and stand up for others, especially the vulnerable. In perhaps his finest rhetorical flourish, making reference to Dr Martin Luther King Jr, he suggested that although he carries the scars of seven years in office, his fundamental optimism – hope and change – in the American people is undimmed.

“It won’t be easy. Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far. Voices that help us see ourselves not first and foremost as black or white or Asian or Latino, not as gay or straight, immigrant or native born; not as Democrats or Republicans, but as Americans first, bound by a common creed. Voices Dr King believed would have the final word – voices of unarmed truth and unconditional love.”

The annual televised showpiece brings together America’s body politic in a packed chamber where cabinet members, supreme court justices and military chiefs are perched on extra seats at the front. The upper walls are decorated with bas-reliefs depicting historical lawgivers including Moses, Edward I, Thomas Jefferson and Napoleon. High above, a stained glass window depicted the American eagle with the motto, “E pluribus unum” – out of many, one – framed by the seals of individual states.

Obama began with a joke to puncture the solemnity of the occasion: “I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa.”

He made only fleeting reference to his projects for 2016, including fixing the immigration system, protecting children from gun violence – one seat was left empty in memory of victims – and raising the minimum wage. “All these things still matter to hard-working families; they are still the right thing to do; and I will not let up until they get done.”

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Instead, while conceding he had not measured up to his hero, Lincoln, or the Democratic idol Roosevelt, he insisted that the US now has the strongest, most durable economy in the world, with the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. “Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,” he said.

But he acknowledged that Americans feel anxious about changes in the job market and, with leftwing Democratic nominee Bernie Sanders looking on, took a swipe at big business. “Food Stamp recipients didn’t cause the financial crisis; recklessness on Wall Street did. Immigrants aren’t the reason wages haven’t gone up enough; those decisions are made in the boardrooms that too often put quarterly earnings over long-term returns.

“It’s sure not the average family watching tonight avoids paying taxes through offshore accounts. In this new economy, workers and startups and small businesses need more of a voice, not less. The rules should work for them. And this year I plan to lift up the many businesses who’ve figured out that doing right by their workers ends up being good for their shareholders, their customers, and their communities, so that we can spread those best practices across America.”

On foreign policy, however, he was perhaps closer to Democratic favourite Hillary Clinton, his former secretary of state, in terms of pragmatism. “In today’s world, we’re threatened less by evil empires and more by failing states,” he said.

Republican John McCain shook his head as Obama defended his military strategy in Iraq and Syria. “I told you earlier all the talk of America’s economic decline is political hot air. Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker.”

He added: “As we focus on destroying Isil, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands. Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence.

“That’s the story Isil wants to tell; that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit. We don’t need to build them up to show that we’re serious, nor do we need to push away vital allies in this fight by echoing the lie that Isil is representative of one of the world’s largest religions. We just need to call them what they are – killers and fanatics who have to be rooted out, hunted down and destroyed.”

Obama also called on America to reignite its spirit of innovation, eliciting laughter with the comment: “Sixty years ago, when the Russians beat us into space, we didn’t deny Sputnik was up there. We didn’t argue about the science, or shrink our research and development budget. We built a space program almost overnight, and 12 years later we were walking on the moon.”

Obama’s final words on this stage, probably the last time he will command such a wide audience, harked back to the optimism that infused his first run for president. “That’s the America I know. That’s the country we love. Clear-eyed. Big-hearted. Optimistic that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. That’s what makes me so hopeful about our future. Because of you. I believe in you.”