President Obama will use his penultimate State of the Union address Tuesday to outline a broad agenda with an emphasis on government assistance for the middle class. But seeing as how Obama's proposals will meet stiff resistance in the GOP-controlled Congress, media analysts say the speech could serve more so as an early attempt to frame the 2016 election than as a blueprint for Obama's final two years in office.
In particular, Obama could effectively cast the economy's recent upswing as proof that his policies are working — and that American's should allow a Democratic successor to continue them once he's gone. For instance, Obama's proposal to finance free community college tuition and new tax benefits for the middle class via tax hikes on the rich has almost no chance of passing Congress. Yet simply raising the idea in the face of staunch Republican oppositon gives his party more ammo to ding the GOP as the party of the rich.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - November 2, 2024Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - anti-fascism, early voter turnout, and more
-
Geoff Capes obituary: shot-putter who became the World’s Strongest ManIn the Spotlight The 'mighty figure' was a two-time Commonwealth Champion and world-record holder
-
Israel attacks Iran: a 'limited' retaliationTalking Point Iran's humiliated leaders must decide how to respond to Netanyahu's measured strike
-
North Korea tests ICBM, readies troops in UkraineSpeed Read Thousands of North Korean troops are likely to join Russian action against Ukraine
-
Women take center stage in campaign finaleSpeed Read Harris and Trump are trading gender attacks in the final days before the election
-
US election: who the billionaires are backingThe Explainer More have endorsed Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, but among the 'ultra-rich' the split is more even
-
Supreme Court allows purge of Virginia voter rollsSpeed Read Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) is purging some 1,600 people from state voter rolls days before the election
-
'Empowered' Steve Bannon released from prisonSpeed Read Bannon was set free a week before Election Day and quickly returned to his right-wing podcast to promote Trump
-
Canada accuses top Modi ally of directing Sikh attacksSpeed Read Indian Home Minister Amit Shah was allegedly behind a campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists
-
Harris makes closing case in huge rally at DC's EllipseSpeed Read The Democratic nominee asked voters to "turn the page" on Trump's "division" and "chaos"
-
'I am not a Nazi,' Trump says amid MSG rally falloutSpeed Read Trump and his campaign are attempting to stem the fallout from comments made by speakers at Sunday's rally
