In setting out his stall in his 6th annual State of the Union address on Tuesday Barack Obama pulled no punches. For many observers this was the president at his most combative and radical yet, clear, forceful, and partisan . "Tonight, we turn the page," he told the nation, refering both to the economic upturn – the seventh year of his presidency, but the first in which the economy is no longer in crisis, with job growth, fuel prices down, and falling deficits – and to the theme that he is determined will become central to US politics, economic fairness, inequality. And yet, paradoxically it would seem, at the point in his presidency when he has least power, when his ability to achieve his vision has been most atrophied. The Republican midterm capture of the Senate last year has made Congress a no-go zone for presidential initiatives.
But perhaps that is thepoint. Previous State of the Unions have reflected a hope – not often fulfilled – that some of his programme, more carefully modulated and tailored to reach out across the floor, might actually pass through gridlocked Congress. On Tuesday Obama seemed to be saying “this is what I would do if you so-and-sos would let me, but I know you won’t.”
This time it was less about achieving results than about setting the agenda for public debate between now and the next election. Indeed, part of his purpose almost certainly involved trying to tie the hands of Hillary Clinton, committing her to make the debate on the squeezed middle class, the profligate wealthy, and inequality central to her presidential bid, a theme the Democratic Party will embrace wholeheartedly, and she, less so. It is also about Obama's legacy. No-one was ever remembered for advocating milk and water, incremental reform.
The speech reflected the new go-it-alone “imperial presidency”, Obama in his final two years forced to rely on stretching to the limit his executive discretion to take action rather than relying on Congress. And doing so with a gusto that has surprised and delighted many supporters. He promised vetos of Republican attempts to roll back his achievements or block his executive action initiatives – on ”Obamacare”, Wall Street regulation, climate change, relaxation of immigration controls, and a possible nuclear deal with Iran. He demanded extra powers to negotiate trade deals, like that with the EU, and and it is the one issue he may prevail on in Congress as the Republicans favour tree trade.
On the economy and the put-upon middle class, however, he was banging his head against a Republican brick wall – plans to offer free community college to millions, cheap childcare and retirement savings, would be paid for by $320 billion in tax increases over the next decade on top income earners and a levy on large financial institutions. No chance. But good election fodder.