WASHINGTON — Americans who watched President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address largely approved, giving him better marks than they did for last year’s speech, according to instant polling conducted by CNN.
.@CNN / ORC instant poll of Obama’s State of the Union #CNNSOTU http://t.co/mJt5gcOFun http://t.co/ysvz10tlsA
— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 21, 2015
Positive ratings from State of the Union watchers are the rule, not the exception. CNN found Obama getting high marks in all five annual State of the Union speeches they previously polled (the network didn’t conduct a post-State of the Union poll in 2012). Former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also received largely positive ratings.
Eighty-one percent of viewers had a somewhat positive or very positive opinion of the 2015 State of the Union, according to CNN — up from 76 percent in 2014, and in line with ratings for Obama’s speeches in 2011 and 2013.
The speech also increased watchers’ confidence the president’s policies “will move the country in the right direction.” The number of those saying that rose 15 percentage points, from 57 percent in a pre-speech survey among speech watchers to 72 percent afterward. That was similar to Obama’s 17-point gain on the same measure last year.
The opinions of State of the Union watchers don’t represent the view of Americans as a whole. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans to watch Obama’s speeches, as Republicans were more inclined to watch during the Bush administration.
Most Americans don’t watch even parts of the State of the Union address, and it has proven unlikely to affect presidential approval ratings.
Obama devoted much of his speech to what he referred to as “middle-class economics,” advocating policies including a raise in the minimum wage, a change in tax policy to cut “giveaways [for] the superrich,” and guaranteed paid sick leave and paid maternity leave. In a poll last year, 44 percent of Americans thought of themselves as middle class, while 40 percent called themselves lower-middle or lower class, and 15 percent called themselves upper-middle or upper class.
Voters in the 2014 election largely supported the idea of a minimum wage hike, and, regardless of party, largely agreed that income inequality was increasing. But partisans divided over the importance of the issue: Democrats were 56 percentage points more likely than Republicans to say the minimum wage was somewhat or very important, and 45 points more likely to say income inequality didn’t get enough attention.
HuffPost’s Ariel Levy reports:
Americans who watched President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address largely approved, giving him better marks than they did for last year’s speech, according to instant polling conducted by CNN.
Positive ratings from State of the Union watchers are the rule, not the exception. CNN found Obama getting high marks in all five annual State of the Union speeches they previously polled (the network didn’t conduct a post-State of the Union poll in 2012). Former presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton also received largely positive ratings.
Eighty-one percent of viewers had a somewhat positive or very positive opinion of the 2015 State of the Union, according to CNN — up from 76 percent in 2014, and in line with ratings for Obama’s speeches in 2011 and 2013.
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Jennifer Bendery reports:
President Barack Obama pushed Congress Tuesday night to restore a key portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, even though Republicans signaled last week they have no intention of doing so.
“We may go at it in campaign season, but surely we can agree that the right to vote is sacred; that it’s being denied to too many; and that, on this 50th anniversary of the great march from Selma to Montgomery and the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we can come together, Democrats and Republicans, to make voting easier for every single American,” Obama said during his State of the Union address.
Read more here.
HuffPost’s Ali Watkins reports:
President Obama warned lawmakers in his State of the Union address on Tuesday against interfering with his administration’s nuclear negotiations with Iran, promising to veto any new sanctions legislation that makes it to his desk.
“New sanctions passed by this Congress, at this moment in time, will all but guarantee that diplomacy fails — alienating America from its allies and ensuring that Iran starts up its nuclear program again,” Obama said. “It doesn’t make sense. That is why I will veto any new sanctions bill that threatens to undo this progress.”
Read the full story here.
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“Last month, we launched a new spacecraft as part of a re-energized space program that will send American astronauts to Mars,” Obama said. “In two months, to prepare us for those missions, Scott Kelly will begin a year-long stay in space. Good luck, Captain — and make sure to Instagram it.”
Hey, Trade Promotion Authority finally gets the GOP out of their seats!
— Mike O'Brien (@mpoindc) January 21, 2015
HuffPost’s Elise Foley reports:
There’s a major fight brewing in the Capitol over President Barack Obama’s immigration policies, and whether funding for the Department of Homeland Security should be threatened to stop them. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it from the president’s State of the Union address on Tuesday.
Obama only mentioned the word “immigration” twice, and didn’t make the impassioned pleas he has in years past for immigration reform. There was no call for a vote on a comprehensive immigration bill, or even smaller legislative measures like help for young undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children.
Instead, Obama’s message was that Congress should stop fighting him on immigration. Or, more specifically, that they should stop fighting his executive actions to protect some undocumented immigrants from being deported.
“If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments — but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country. … Yes, passions still fly on immigration, but surely we can all see something of ourselves in the striving young student, and agree that no one benefits when a hardworking mom is taken from her child, and that it’s possible to shape a law that upholds our tradition as a nation of laws and a nation of immigrants,” Obama said.
Read the full story here.
Some fun on the floor, as Gillibrand makes a "come onnnnn" hand gesture when the Repubs around her didn't stand for pay equity #SOTU2015
— daveweigel (@daveweigel) January 21, 2015
“To everyone in this Congress who still refuses to raise the minimum wage, I say this: If you truly believe you could work full-time and support a family on less than ,000 a year, go try it,” Obama said. “If not, vote to give millions of the hardest-working people in America a raise.”
“Today, we’re the only advanced country on Earth that doesn’t guarantee paid sick leave or paid maternity leave to our workers. Forty-three million workers have no paid sick leave. Forty-three million. Think about that. And that forces too many parents to make the gut-wrenching choice between a paycheck and a sick kid at home,” Obama said. “So I’ll be taking new action to help states adopt paid leave laws of their own. And since paid sick leave won where it was on the ballot last November, let’s put it to a vote right here in Washington. Send me a bill that gives every worker in America the opportunity to earn seven days of paid sick leave. It’s the right thing to do.”
Obama went back to speaking on Rebekah and Ben, saying for a couple like them, “Friday night pizza is a splurge.”
“Because families like Rebekah’s still need our help. She and Ben are working as hard as ever, but have to forego vacations and a new car so they can pay off student loans and save for retirement,” Obama said.
“Basic childcare for [their children] Jack and Henry costs more than their mortgage, and almost as much as a year at the University of Minnesota,” Obama added. “Like millions of hardworking Americans, Rebekah isn’t asking for a handout, but she is asking that we look for more ways to help families get ahead.”
“We can’t slow down businesses or put our economy at risk with government shutdowns or fiscal showdowns,” Obama said. “We can’t put the security of families at risk by taking away their health insurance, or unraveling the new rules on Wall Street, or refighting past battles on immigration when we’ve got a system to fix. And if a bill comes to my desk that tries to do any of these things, it will earn my veto.”
Many in the chamber gave Obama a standing ovation when he mentioned “ten million uninsured Americans [who] finally gained the security of health coverage” this year.
Obama told the story of Rebekah Erler, a guest of first lady Michelle Obama at the SOTU, and her husband Ben.
“America, Rebekah and Ben’s story is our story. They represent the millions who have worked hard, and scrimped, and sacrificed, and retooled. You are the reason I ran for this office,” Obama said. “You’re the people I was thinking of six years ago today, in the darkest months of the crisis, when I stood on the steps of this Capitol and promised we would rebuild our economy on a new foundation. And it’s been your effort and resilience that has made it possible for our country to emerge stronger.”
“Tonight, for the first time since 9/11, our combat mission in Afghanistan is over. Six years ago, nearly 180,000 American troops served in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Obama said. “Today, fewer than 15,000 remain. And we salute the courage and sacrifice of every man and woman in this 9/11 Generation who has served to keep us safe. We are humbled and grateful for your service.”
“We are fifteen years into this new century. Fifteen years that dawned with terror touching our shores; that unfolded with a new generation fighting two long and costly wars; that saw a vicious recession spread across our nation and the world. It has been, and still is, a hard time for many,” Obama said at the start of his speech. “But tonight, we turn the page.”
Read the president’s full remarks as prepared for delivery here.
