State of the Union: Should Obama get combative with the GOP?

Since winning re-election, Obama's approach toward Congress, and particularly the Republican Party, has been notable for its combativeness. Instead of huddling with lawmakers behind the scenes, Obama has used his bully pulpit and campaign-style events around the country to sell his agenda on everything from gun control to raising taxes. The strategy is to get popular opinion on his side, then force the GOP to compromise. And it appears Obama will turn to that playbook once again during his State of the Union address on Tuesday night, according to Glenn Thrush at Politico:

The most pressing issue facing Congress is the sequester: $1.2 trillion in across-the-board spending cuts that are scheduled to go into effect at the end of the month. Obama has proposed replacing the sequester with a modest deficit-reduction package of spending cuts and new tax revenues, while Republican lawmakers demand that Obama commit only to deep cuts that economists say could stymie the economic recovery.

Obama will reportedly sell his plan hard on Tuesday, with the aim of putting the GOP, once again, in the uncomfortable position of defending policies that could hurt the economy in the short term. Furthermore, he plans to go on the road in the days following the State of the Union, holding rallies in North Carolina, Georgia, and Chicago to build public support for his proposals.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

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.

Sign up

And that's not Obama's only attempt to circumvent the GOP. According to Zachary A. Goldfarb at The Washington Post:

Of course, Obama's aggressive posture has its risks. The public may dislike his bare-knuckled, partisan approach, while executive orders could alienate Republicans on other issues for which legislative action is necessary. However, the strategy has worked for him so far, at least on raising taxes on the wealthy and building broad support for certain gun control measures.

More importantly, liberal commentators say his policies reflect the wishes of an emerging majority that neither identifies with the GOP nor supports its positions, minimizing the potential for serious political fallout. As Greg Sargent at The Washington Post says: