In the 70-minute-long address, the President gave only lip service to immigration reform. He made no remarks on protecting Social Security and Medicare — just as Republicans have hinted at a coming battle over welfare reform — and only passing reference to the crowning achievement of his first term, Obamacare, just as it’s beginning to bear fruit for many Americans. And he didn’t mention the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline by name, which Republicans favor as a job-creation opportunity but the White House has said Obama would veto.
READ: Obama: ‘Tonight, we turn the page’
The speech was overall a rallying cry to progressives, a promise that he’ll put up a fight for their priorities now that he’s freed from the bounds of another reelection fight. It drew widespread praise from congressional Democrats, and near-uniform dismissal from Republicans.
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And though the speech came on the eve of the 10th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Citizens’ United decision, which opened the floodgates for big-money donors to influence elections, Obama didn’t talk about super PACs or public financing for campaigns.
Still, with historic references to transgender and lesbian individuals, and a call for tax hikes on the wealthy, most progressives had little to complain about on Tuesday night.
