Moving the Needle
I’ve been pretty clear about my belief that the State of the Union Address—regardless of which party is in the White House, or which president is at the podium—has gotten out of control. This past Tuesday’s event was no exception.
There were no surprises. The president said what we expected, Republicans reacted as we expected, Democrats reacted as we expected. It’s always better when your side is winning, or in the majority…but from an objective standpoint, nothing was a surprise.
More importantly—it’s not going to make any difference in terms of legislation to be passed this year, or in terms of the November general election.
That’s because the folks who are going to make the difference in the midterm election—non-committed or independent voters—weren’t tuned in. Those who watched were folks whose minds were made up, one way or the other…and nothing changed. If anything, strongly held viewpoints are now held even more strongly. But in terms of moving the needle in gaining an electoral advantage—nothing.
But again…not even that was a surprise.
And this was true when Bill Clinton or Barack Obama spoke far too long, seemingly in love with the sound of their own voices…but Donald Trump could have achieved what he needed to in far less time Tuesday night. Yes, a speech of that length knocks the Democrat response out of prime time…but again, GOP voters no doubt would turn away regardless, just as Democrats might turn in just for it, regardless of when it happened.
On the bright side, there won’t be another State of the Union speech until next year. But I’m not holding out much hope things will be different then.
