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 With his clout fast diminishing in Washington, and Republican and
Democratic candidates gearing up for the White House race, Obama did
his best in Tuesday's State of the Union address to set the agenda
for potential successors embarking on wooing voters.
Even as he offered proposals such as higher taxes on the wealthy
that are likely to be rejected by the Republican-controlled
Congress, Obama drew attention to income inequality that has
persisted despite an improving economy.
Wage growth remains sluggish and the wealth gap between the most
affluent and everybody else is the highest on record, according to
the Pew Research Center. Most Americans still believe the economy is
headed in the wrong direction, according to Reuters/IPSOS polling
data.
Already, potential Republican candidates like Rand Paul and Mitt
Romney have signaled that they will devote more attention to helping
the less affluent.
While they are unlikely to sign off on a plan that raises taxes on
the wealthy to expand government safety nets, as proposed by Obama,
they will be under greater pressure to lay out their own proposals
in detail.
Obama's speech will also have an impact in his own party.
Hillary Clinton, the likely frontrunner for the Democratic
nomination, is already facing heat from Massachusetts Senator
Elizabeth Warren and other figures on the left, who worry Clinton
may bow to pressure from Wall Street and chip away at financial
reforms enacted during Obama's tenure.
When, as expected, Clinton starts to hit the campaign trail in
earnest this spring, she will also have to say whether she supports
Obama's plan to raise taxes on capital gains and other types of
income that currently benefit the wealthiest - an uncomfortable
topic for many of her deep-pocketed donors.
A candidate who plans to make women's rights a central part of her
message will also have to say whether she supports Obama's plan to
make child care more affordable through tax credits and expanded
preschool education, or whether she agrees that all businesses
should be required to provide paid sick leave.
SOME PLANS MAY BEAR FRUIT
Some of Obama's proposals could become reality before he leaves
office. The sheer power of the presidency ensures that every visit
to a community college or job-training site draws a spray of local
media coverage that can pressure officials to act.
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For example, Congress hasn't raised the minimum wage since Obama
asked for that in his 2013 and 2014 speeches, but 20 states raised
their own minimum wages at the beginning of this year.
Congress is not likely to back Obama's proposal to make community
college free, which would cost $60 billion per year. But by
highlighting places like Tennessee and Chicago that have set up
their own free-tuition programs, he can pressure other states to
consider the idea as well, or at least force them to restore
higher-education subsidies that they slashed in the 2008-2009
recession.
And beyond the high-profile battles over healthcare and budgets,
Obama has been able to chalk up some wins on less glamorous
initiatives subjects that have been regular features of his past
State of the Union addresses.
In December, Congress finally provided funding for a network of
advanced-manufacturing research centers after Obama highlighted a
pilot program in his 2013 address.
This year, Republicans have signaled an interest in paying for more
infrastructure improvements and bolstering cyber crime defenses,
both of which Obama called for in his speech on Tuesday.
But Obama made clear he was not focused solely on short-term gains
and wanted to ensure that his ideas remain influential after he
leaves the White House.
"We have risen from recession freer to write our own future than any
other nation on Earth," he said. "It's now up to us to choose who we
want to be over the next 15 years, and for decades to come."
(Reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Caren Bohan and Frances
Kerry)
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