We’ve come a long way since George Washington presented his State of the Union message to Congress with two minutes of remarks. Today’s State of the Union has become a major media event and provides a President with the chance to form his thinking about the future and present his priorities to the nation and the world.
So, just what is the state of the State of the Union?
Having watched most of them since the 1970s and having had the good fortune to actually contribute to the development of about eight of them during my time at the White House, I think many of the talking heads focus far too much on the second element of the three important phases of a State of the Union address.
The first phase involves a President becoming fully engaged in thoughtfully framing his thinking about the years ahead and the priorities of his Administration.
The second phase is the speech itself where content and tone are judged by one and all. The event favors the President who, speaking before the entire United States Congress, exemplifies the notion of being presidential.
And, the third phase is the Administration’s strategy around successfully driving the themes of the State of the Union into the public’s consciousness through a well-executed and disciplined communications plan.
Presidents have used the first phase in the weeks leading to the State of the Union to meet with members of the Administration, leaders in Congress, and thought leaders in our society. Indeed, in Ronald Reagan’s pre-State of the Union phase, a series of futurists to focus on the kind of future we as a nation might confront visited with him in the White House.
Trust me, thought leaders from all segments of our society will accept the invitation to sit with a President and reflect on the future along with the challenges and the opportunities we face. However, there is no evidence in the weeks leading up to the State of the Union address that thought leaders from different fields who might inform the thinking of the President and those around him about the future were part of this year’s process. Since this speech comes around but once a year, this is a missed opportunity of some significance.
When it comes to the content of last night’s speech, most would agree the tone was, well, down. Ironically, “toned down” is a style that brought compliments from commentators. Also, as the third longest speech in history, most would agree the speech was long. However, to my ear, it was short on any new insights, innovative approaches or reflective thought.
The script was adhered to. Also, remarkably one of the media’s pre-announced criteria for a successful “presidential” delivery. But, this made the factual inaccuracies all the more puzzling. Comments about economic growth or some kind of heretofore unknown substance called “clean coal” are harder to explain when written into a speech that will knowingly undergo the fact checker’s magnifying glass.
As for the very important third phase of the State of the Union triad, it is hard to believe we will observe anything resembling a well-crafted, strategically executed communications plan. Indeed, the White House was backgrounding on the distraction de jour – the Nunes memo – in the hours before the speech and White House staff will be even more heavily embroiled in this issue in the days that follow. There was even speculation again about whether or not the President would consider firing special prosecutor Mueller or, perhaps argue there has not been an adequate case made to require a Presidential interview with the special prosecutor. Dwelling on this during the run-up to the speech does not bode well for the communications effort going forward.
So, for those who like to score these sort of things, the trend – at least to me – does not look favorable. Having failed to take full advantage of the run-up to the speech and by planting all kinds of serious distractions complicating efforts to sustain the SOU messages, the Administration cannot get what it needed out of this speech to drive major Administration initiatives forward.
As January comes to a conclusion, Administration supporters probably are pleased with the speech and will not be moved by any analysis. Opponents may come away from the evening embolden to challenge the President in Congress and at the polls later this year….but, in fairness, I am not sure how much bolder most of them could become. And, for anyone still left in the middle, the evening did little to win over their support.
And, that is the state of the State of the Union….much ado about something that has left little more than a ripple in our tumultuous political sea.
Craig Fuller served four years in the White House as assistant to President Reagan for Cabinet Affairs, followed by four years as chief of staff to Vice President George H.W. Bush. Having been engaged in five presidential campaigns and run public affairs firms and associations in Washington, D.C., he now resides on the Eastern Shore with his wife Karen.
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