Prof. Keith Smith on the State of the Union Address

From the Lodi News-Sentinel:

“State of the Union speeches are usually prospective, an opportunity for the president to lay out his agenda for the following year. This speech was very retrospective.

“What policy proposals are in his speech are not new. They were things he campaigned for. The speech was much more on defending actions that have been taken and efforts that have been made.

“If you’re part of the liberal component in the Democratic party, there wasn’t a whole lot in the speech to cheer about, such as nuclear energy, offshore drilling and international trade.

“Moderate Democrats and Republicans like the cut in discretionary spending, earmark reform, cutting capital gains on small-business investments.

“Obama is much better at the big picture than he is the details.

“He is recognizing the (public) frustration of way things are done in Washington. He’s acknowledging the frustration and trying to direct it, I think, to government as a whole.”