State of Insanity

Last night, President Obama gave his State of the Union address to our nation.  Tonight, Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker gave his State of the State address.  These men might not have much in common...one is a Democrat, the other a Republican.  One is black, the other white.  However, the pair does have a few things in common, and these speeches came with high stakes.

The content of the speeches themselves were similar in a number of ways.  Both men discussed a specific person who had been laid off, but was re-hired at a better job and is now thriving.  Both men discussed energy sources - Obama discussing oil; Walker, mining.  They touted the job creation within their constituency, and how they aided that progress.  They also discussed education - Obama proposed that students must finish high school, or be in school until they turn 18.  Walker proposed reading reform to keep kids in school, as well as an accountability scale for passing and failing schools.


All of this is very interesting, but you can look up the speeches yourself -
Obama's State of the Union can be found here.  At the time of this blog post, Walker's had not yet been released.

There is something to be examined beyond these speeches, though, and that is the context in which they were given.  Barack Obama and Scott Walker have something very important in common.  It's an election year.

True, Obama knew that a 2012 presidential election was looming, and a term with a (pardon my French) crappy economy doesn't look good for the incumbent.  After a campaign run on "hope" and "change," Obama has been a bit of a push-over.  He's been an extremely moderate president, which has actually led to a right-leaning term.  Instead of proposing something he really wanted, Obama mostly began with a compromise...and then was forced to compromise his compromise.  This strategy was poor, and he has little to show for it during his term thus far.

So Obama's State of the Union (SOTU) speech was interesting, given this pending election.  The catch phrase was surely "send me a bill" - one to ban insider trading, one for tax reforms, to help legal immigrants gain citizenship, and an energy bill to decrease pollution and increase jobs.  He showed that he is strong, that he is starting to stand up for himself, and he placed the (is "blame" the right word??) emphasis on Congress getting things done.

With a potentially tough election on the horizon, Obama looked very steadfast.  Many of my friends were very impressed by Obama's SOTU address this year...even my friends who have been unsure of the president in the past.  The speech has a lot of bragging (Bin Laden, anyone?) as well as finger pointing (ahem, Congress).

That being said, let's take a look at Congress.  13.2% approval rating as of this evening.  13.2%.  Do you know what that looks like?  13% of babies born last year is 16.9 million babies.  Imagine if 13% of babies got mixed up in the hospital and went home with the wrong parents.  That's a catastrophe.  In August 2011, 13% of Americans Tweeted, according to the Huffington Post.  And in a hypothetical presidential race between Obama and Mitt Romney, Comedy Central comedian Stephen Colbert would receive 13% of the vote.  Just for a little bit of context.

The problem across the United States is also that, while people report a low approval rating for ALL of Congress, they tend to like their own representatives.  How can we fix the whole if we all like the individual parts?  And how can we criticize a president who has done little, when the few efforts he has made have been stonewalled into oblivion by Congress?

Scott Walker, on the other hand, did not have the benefit of knowing that an election was coming for him.  Gaining office only one year ago, Walker had an entire term ahead of him as governor.  However, after a February/March collective bargaining bill (yes, I am going to link you to the Wikipedia page, because in this instance I think it's pretty informative), a huge movement to hold a special recall election was launched.  Recently, almost double the amount of signatures needed to hold the special election were collected (but still need to be verified).  Walker now faces a pending election within the year that will determine whether he gets to serve out the remainder of his term.

So, with this in mind, Walker also faces an incredibly tough election.  His State of the State (SOTS) address was interrupted four times by protestors in the audience, who yelled out "Mic check," "Recall Walker" and booed loudly as he walked in.  Whether or not you agree with his politics, the man should be respected for his position as current elected and serving governor of the state of Wisconsin.  I think the way that the protestors handled themselves was sad and, frankly, classless.  Sometimes no words actually say more.

Walker quoted the Wisconsin founders by saying "frugality in government leads to freedom and prosperity for our people."  He also said "your opponent today may be your ally tomorrow."  I certainly hope that Walker finds some allies, because he has a long road ahead of him.

In two days, two speeches were given.  Both men took a stand in a tough election year.  It seemed that these speeches were less a SOTU or SOTS than they were bragging rights.  "Look what I've done," they essentially said.  "Vote for me." (Or, in Walker's case, "Don't vote me out.")

In the Harry Potter books, Dumbledore says we must make a choice between what is right and what is easy.  But the choice itself is difficult.  So my question is this: in an election year, is it better to give a God's honest SOTU/SOTS address - talk about the problems that the nation/state is facing, discuss areas of improvement and bumps along the way - or is it better to pat one's self on the back?  Is it better to say what will lead to a reelection, or what will improve the nation?  Sometimes difficulties are hard to hear, but I think I would respect a leader more who could own up to his/her short comings rather than blaming it on Congress or Union bosses.

Then again, maybe the world isn't ready for that kind of leader.