State of DisUnion

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Everyone is waiting to hear President Obama's first State of the Union Address.

What I am waiting for: for President Obama to reunify our states - our states of politics, our states of economics, and our states of cooperation.

To me, the most important thing with this evening's address is to restate the union that he campaigned to lead.

Pundits on both sides of the aisle are going to look to see how the president projects his overall message. They will pick apart his words and try to read his intent on the economy, on health care, and on the wars overseas.

However, those will not be the important points, for nothing else will matter if the president is unable to get a majority of Americans clearly on the same page, including those Americans serving on Capitol Hill and in Washington.

Perhaps it will be the losses in New Jersey, Virginia, and Massachusetts. Perhaps it will be the daunting realization that while the Congressional leadership led much of this disaster for the Obama Administration in 2009, most of them will be in full campaign mode in 2010, thus leaving him to hold the bag of responsibility for the current status. Perhaps it will be a reflection upon the magic of 2008 and the hope of January 2009. Regardless of what the primers end up being, President Obama will be successful with his address and with his impending presidency if he is capable of finding the true middle ground that will allow a majority of lawmakers and everyday Americans to get behind him as Commander-in-Chief with full force, something that has yet to transpire during his term.

Gathering Republican ideas (such as the spending freeze, an idea that he mocked John McCain with during the presidential debates as a "hatchet job" idea towards the economy) or championing through left-leaning pet projects will not do. At some point, it's not partisanship anymore, just as the Obama Presidency had the promise of being past after his historic election. This point on Wednesday night will be about unifying the nation behind a leader. Obama made it a point to look towards Lincoln as an example as he rode into Washington (literally) 12 months ago. With his State of the Union Address, he has a chance to channel the Great Emancipator again, this time to free America from the chains of disunity brought on by economic peril, proposed historic change, and fears for the future.