President
Trump struck a unique and new tone in his first address to Congress
since taking office. Trump laid out a sweeping policy agenda that stayed
true to traditional GOP policy planks and reassured many in the
Republican leadership that they had a friend in the Oval Office.
The
Democrats remained unified in spite of a tempered Trump. Only a handful
of Senators and Congressmen and women broke ranks to stand and clap for
Trump’s signature issues. The women in the Democratic caucus also wore
white to honor the suffragetes. If this stands as a preview of what is
to come, the Democrats are shaping up to be in good shape. Toeing the
party line will be crucial. Every vote they cast is likely to be
scrutinized by liberal activists that are stoking the base for special
elections across the nation in the run up to the 2018 midterm elections.
Through
this speech Trump looked to bolster his agenda setting mandate, address
his messaging problem, and present a more sober view of his presidency.
The Trump Agenda
The
Trump agenda is broad strokes, but his speechwriters did a much better
job of articulating what his presidency will be about. Trump clearly
wants to be a president that presides over an unparalleled period of
American economic expansion, military prowess, and personal freedom.
Whether
or not you agree with Trump’s approach to achieving these goals, he has
a much better footing to do so after this speech. The GOP caucus will
be receptive to his overtures since he stood up for them on primetime
tv. The President is milking his tv persona for every ounce of its
potential. This reminded me of an article in Politico Magazine I read earlier this morning. It portends that the President is a ‘performance artist’ that is pretending to be a ‘great manager.’
CNN’s first reaction polling shows that nearly 70% of viewers had a positive reaction to Trump’s speech. If that trend holds, Trump is on track to effectively encase himself in this ‘great manager’ persona.
The Trump Message
It’s
now clear Trump has labeled what he wants his presidency to be about.
Now the White House has to aggressively move to claim that agenda. It’ll
be surprising if the Trump surrogates are not out in force over the
next few mornings with another stint on the Sunday shows.
President
Trump did exactly what candidate Trump did so well: defined his message
based on his ‘policy planks’. The President made clear that his mandate
encompasses your family’s safety, economic wellbeing, and our national
pride. If he makes an effort to defend and bolster any of these three
categories he scores points.
The
low hanging fruit of rhetorical points will likely boost Trump’s
approval and favorability ratings in the coming weeks, but will cause
them to crater when he falls prey to obstructionism and legislative
stagnation.
A Sober Trump
The simple truth of this address is that it had one clear objective: get Trump back on the rails.
Trump’s
inaugural address was extremely dark. The nation was depicted as
dangerous, depleted, and downtrodden. His address to Congress struck a
completely different tone. Trump’s message could be described as
‘aspirational.’
One
of the key components of his speech was the celebration of the United
States’ 250th anniversary. He questioned what kind of nation we wanted
to build by that monumental moment.
It
is also important to note that President Trump clearly condemned ‘hate
and evil.’ This was his most forceful statement against anti-semitism
and anti-immigrant rhetoric and hate crimes in recent weeks.
The
President’s new tone and new style of presentation could signal his
‘presidential pivot,’ but this is doubtful. It is likely that patent
Trump will return soon, and this ‘take a different tack’ approach is
headed for the trash.
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