THE STATE OF THE UNION SPEECH

What struck me most as I sat through the somewhat dull but informative State of the Union speech by President Obama was how much President Obama has transformed himself in the last two years. The polarizing, divisive and narcissitic rhetoric of the 2008 election campaign and the two subsequent years was gone. The language of "I am the change you have been waiting for", "I will restore America's reputation in the world", "I will repair the damage that 8 years of Bush have caused", "I will clean out the corruption of Washington" and so on, is no more. Instead the focus was on the greatness of American innovation, America as the "beacon of light" to the rest of the world, the greatness of the military (even to the extent of urging colleges to allow army recruiters back on campus), the will to defeat the terrorists, the importance of small business and higher education, refocusing on the three r"s, reducing the deficit and working together, Republicans, Democrats and Independents. There was no more blaming, and apologizing for America. It was a speech typical of what one might hear at a university convocation address from an Honorary Doctorate recipient. It was aimed at the middle class, the well educated, and the ambitious. It has positioned President Obama for the 2012 election. The President clearly has decided to combine his strong intelligence, and enormous rhetorical skills, with main stream American values. This will be a tough combination for Republicans to beat in 2012. What remains to be seen is how the more "progressive" elements of American society will view the President's metamorphosis, and more interestingly whether the new rhetoric will be matched by the President's legislative agenda.