Steve Burns
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON — (WMAL) President Obama gives his final State of the Union address tonight at the Capitol, and the White House has promised a “non-traditional” speech. But how far outside the box can one go here?
“The President cannot realistically stand in front of Congress, and especially this Congress, and expect major legislation to start from scratch and proceed all the way through to passage. That’s just not going to happen,” CQ Roll Call News Director Steve Komarow told WMAL. “We expect to hear a lot about him trying to burnish his legacy, talk about things that he views as accomplishments and de-emphasize things that haven’t gone so well.”
One of those positives may be unemployment, which is about half of what it was when he came into office. “What he probably won’t emphasize is the fact that Americans as a whole don’t feel secure as you would expect them to feel with that kind of low unemployment,” Komarow said.
If he does delve into legislation proposals, Komarow expected more emphasis on widely agreeable issues like sentencing reform or the Trans-Pacific Partnership, though he expects the usual divisiveness and split applause lines will still be present, especially at the mention of gun control. The White House has already announced the inclusion of a single empty seat in the chamber, representing victims of gun violence.
“There’s nothing like a President’s first speech, when everyone in the nation is taking the measure of a President,” Komarow said. “The last one is probably a little more sentimental. The President can’t really expect to make a list and dare the Congress to do it all. That isn’t going to happen.”
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