Pre-Imagining Obama's 2010 State of the Union

Woke up the other night thinking about Obama's State of the Union address, hoping he'd strike a balanced tone to turn the tide on his sinking approval and the skepticism that seems to be following his, and his administration's, every move.

This is obviously a really "superficial" State of the Union. Recent ones run ~5k words. The below is absent a bunch of details and not a whole lot of editing, but was just trying to find the words that might take some of the bite out of the constant MMQBing when we're only 12 months into his term.

Final disclaimer: I'm no Democrat, nor a Republican. I don't care much for politics and so it's frustrating that only 12 months in all these assholes are attacking this guy (on both the left and right).


My fellow Americans,

I stand before you, twelve months into this presidency, with no word that better exemplifies what’s happening outside, and within, our borders. That word is struggle. You’ve watched, as have I, the Haitian people deal with the destruction of their capitol city, their homes, and their livelihoods. I first want to acknowledge and communicate to the great people of Haiti: through this struggle, we will do everything in our power to guarantee that you not only have the support you need to get through the immediate aftermath of this tragedy, but that we will also provide you with what you need in the months and years ahead to rebuild your beautiful country.

And while Haiti struggles to cope with the physical destruction of their country, so do we, here at home, struggle not with the physical, but with obstacles that threaten to further rode confidence in our economy, in your elected government and in the foundation for which America has stood.

Our economy, long the foundation on which the American Dream has been built, struggles amidst the fall of the housing market, the insolvency of once-great financial institutions and, most importantly, the deterioration of the job market. I tell you this, I hear you loud and clear, America: as a people, as a government and as a country, our economy must continue to be our number one priority. And though, for the past 12 months, we have dedicated vast amounts of capital, energy and effort to resuscitating the job market and broader economy, we must do even more. To the roughly twelve percent of you who are unemployed, to the unknown masses that are also out of work but no longer accounted for in the endless parade of unemployment estimates, and to the millions of you who are struggling to feed your families, to keep up with your mortgage payments and to save for the future, the commitment I make to you today is that we will not deviate from our focus, we will not rest, we will turn this economy around to make sure that you, and your children, have the opportunity to live the dream that has long been at the core of what’s united us as a country. I will continue to work closely together with your elected officials, as we have for the past seventeen months, to lower the unemployment rate, increase the flow of money to resuscitate small businesses, to improve our infrastructure, and to educate and re-educate our citizens so that we emerge a stronger and better country.

Secondly, health care, for those of us privileged enough to have access to it, access to the vast number of qualified physicians and nurses staffing hospitals and clinics throughout the country, we are secure in the knowledge that when illness befalls us, we will have access to the care that will help us overcome it. No matter how you count them, and regardless of where your thoughts fall politically, we agree there are millions amongst us who have no access to health care today with little to no hope of getting affordable care in the future. We must find a way to get these people access so that all of us who can be healed are treated, and so that those of us who cannot be healed will be supported, comforted and cared for until the very last moments of their lives.

Needless to say, the path to universal coverage is a contentious one, one where the rhetoric has reached a fever pitch, condemnation of the current Senate and House plan on one side, and accusations of stonewalling on the other. I see Senator Brown, who, as many of you know, won the seat vacated by the passing of Senator Kennedy. Taking nothing away from the successful relationship he has nurtured these past months with the people of Massachusetts, Senator Brown emerged victorious because of the struggles locally in Massachusetts, as well as the struggles nationally with our economy, and with the pursuit of health care for all our citizens. And though Massachusetts is but one of our fifty great states, I have spoken at great length with the members of Congress, representing you from coast to coast, and across the political spectrum, and I have spoken directly to thousands of you. In the strongest possible words, I again say: I hear you loud and clear. You believe that people without health care need to have access, deserve to have access, but your collective concerns, your fears of how to provide that access, in the face of the unprecedented struggles of our economy, must not be ignored, that, before any commitment to health care reform is made, the questions you’re asking about the solutions proposed must be answered. My commitment to you today is that we will not deviate from our goal, we will not give up, we will, in tandem with you, the people who have entrusted us with this all-so-important responsibility, make sure that our steps are measured, our recommendations are sound, and our collaboration is broad-based, to make certain that health care does not take precedence above, but instead is addressed in tandem with, the recovery of our economy.

There are those abroad, on streets across America, there are those on the airwaves and even those in this room, listening to me now, who will be quick to tear down my words and declare victory against those of us, and me specifically, whose ambitions and efforts these past twelve months have been to reverse the course of the economic downturn, and to make the decades-long dream of universal access to health care a reality. All I'll say to those of you who would claim victory in this way is that you are in the minority, that what you saw in Massachusetts was not a hope for failure, but instead the type of hope that swept across this country not twelve months ago when I was given the opportunity to lead you out of one of the most difficult times in our country’s history, a deep-seeded, optimistic hope, a hope for change, a hope in the belief that these struggles that test our will and resolve will be conquered. I am here to tell you, America, that hope is alive and well, that this hope will continue to drive the unprecedented efforts that will lead to the return of our economy, to the guarantee of health care for all, and to the resurgence of the America we know and love.

I am not naïve enough to think the task at hand is an easy one. I am not naïve enough to think that you will immediately return to that same level of optimism you had twelve months ago. Your faith has been shaken as I’ve attempted to accomplish what you elected me to do. Were I not standing where I am, my own patience would also be wearing thin, but I once again say to you: I hear you loud and clear. I will not stop fighting, I will not stop working on your behalf, and I know that we, together, that we will not fail. It will not be easy, but we will stand this great country of ours back up on its feet. God bless you and God bless America.