Obama speech reveals a complex state of disunion

James Zogby analyses Barack Obama's state of the union address, delivered against the backdrop of disunion and bipartisan rancour

President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington. Evan Vucci / AP Photo

Last Tuesday, Barack Obama delivered the annual state of the union address to Congress. And then, on Thursday, the Republican candidates for their party's nomination held their sixth debate. The contrasts in tone couldn't have been sharper, defining the deep partisan divide that has tragically paralysed the ability to address critical issues facing the US.

For his part, the president sought to frame his remarks as confident, optimistic and forward-looking. He challenged those who promoted despair and cynicism, noting the progress that has been made in cutting unemployment in half, rescuing America's car industry, and passing health care reform. While acknowledging that real problems of income inequality remain, he noted that with investments in education, job training and continued Wall Street reform, progress could be made.

Mr Obama also used the address to challenge the notion that America is in decline all over the world. It is undeniable that the US faces new challenges from an unsettled Middle East, an emboldened Russia, an aggressive China and the persistent threat of terrorism. But he noted that in the face of these challenges, the US has made progress with climate change, has secured agreements to stop Iran's nuclear programme, promoted trade with Asian partners and opened relations with Cuba.

He concluded that despite diplomatic setbacks, persistent conflicts and the threat of terrorism America's standing has, in fact, improved in almost every country in the world.

As is the case each year, the president proposed that Congress take action in areas that he maintained would create a more prosperous and secure America in the future. But his most compelling remarks came near the end of his speech when he returned to a theme that has shaped his entire public life: the need to bring an end to "the rancour and suspicion" that has divided the US and inhibited bipartisan cooperation.

He began by urging office holders to “reject any politics that targets people because of race or religion”.

He went on to note that “this isn't a matter of political correctness. This is a matter of understanding what makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal, it respects us for our diversity and our openness and the way we respect every faith ... when politicians insult Muslims ... that doesn't make us safer.

“It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. It betrays who we are as a country.”

He closed with this appeal: “The future we want – opportunity and security for our families, a rising standard of living, a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids – all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together ... if we can have rational, constructive debates ... if we fix our politics. [This] doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything ... [But] it doesn't work if we think our political opponents are unpatriotic or trying to weaken America ... Democracy grinds to a halt without a willingness to compromise ... Our public life withers when only the most extreme voices get all the attention ... We have to change the system to reflect our better selves.”

These concluding thoughts struck me as prescient as I listened to the tone and content of the GOP debate that followed. If the president sought to elevate our political discourse and seek compromise, many of those competing for the Republican nomination were clearly moving in the opposite direction. John Kasich and Jeb Bush stood out as exceptions, but their voices were often drowned out by their competitors. Five of the seven candidates either rejected new Muslim immigrants or questioned the wisdom of admitting them. Donald Trump called Muslim immigrants a “great Trojan Horse” that would allow terrorists entry into America.

The two-hour slugfest featured an abundance of squabbling. Mr Trump and Ted Cruz were at war with one another, as were Chris Christie and Marco Rubio. While blood was drawn, the combatants saved their harshest jabs for Mr Obama.

Mr Rubio, for example, had this to say: “Barack Obama does not believe that America is a great global power. He believes that America is an arrogant global power that needs to be cut down to size. And that's how you get a foreign policy where we cut deals with our enemies like Iran and we betray our allies like Israel and we gut our military and we go around the world like he has done on 10 separate occasions and apologised for America.”

Mr Trump added, "Our country is being run by incompetent people.”

The entire affair was a sad display of US politics at its worst, made all the more troubling by the fact that the two candidates (Mr Kasich and Mr Bush) who attempted to elevate the discourse, are, at this point, polling near the bottom of the pack.

There are legitimate challenges that Republicans and Democrats can offer to the president's performance: the Affordable Care Act needs fixing, for instance. Not enough has been done to correct income inequality, the racial divide and widespread corrosive government surveillance.

There have been failures in foreign policy, too. The US has mishandled the Syrian civil war and the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and while the P5+1 agreement with Iran was an achievement, Mr Obama should have been more attentive to the concerns of anxious Arab allies who felt sidelined by their exclusion from the process.

But all these efforts could have been advanced had there been constructive bipartisan cooperation. And, even now, they can and should be discussed without the rancorous and divisive rhetoric that makes forward progress impossible. As the president noted in his address, the fact that the tone of politics hasn't changed is one of his lasting regrets. But "it takes two to tango" and from the performance of Mr Trump and company, the other side doesn't appear ready to end state of America’s disunion.

Dr James Zogby is the president of the Arab American Institute

On Twitter: @aaiusa