In his confident, sprawling State of the Union speech, the president refocused on issues from the ’08 campaign—highlighting a return to fiscal responsibility and offering policy outreaches to both left and right.
It was a Clintonian speech—and I mean that as a compliment. The president was calm, confident, and defiant; the speech was sprawling but dotted with policy details, aimed squarely at moderates and the middle class.
It was not so much a reset as a rediscovery of the themes from the ’08 campaign—with lifted lines like “we are one nation,” also featured in Obama’s first presidential campaign commercial, and dismissals of “politicians who tear opponents down instead of lifting people up.”