What did Dave Ross and Todd Herman take away from Obama’s last SOTU?

After President Barack Obama delivered his last State of the Union address, the varied minds at KIRO Radio gathered to discuss the president’s speech.

KIRO Radio’s Jason Rantz hosted Dave Ross and KTTH’s Todd Herman after the speech. Ross was pleased with the speech, while Herman was more cynical.

The good

Dave Ross: “I thought he showed the kind of passion that has been lacking in some of his past speeches because he avoided the laundry list, this time, of programs he knew were not going to pass, but tried to call for harmony, tried to call for comprise – ‘don’t hate people because of their race, don’t get tribal.’ His heart really seemed to be in that.”

“That line about empowering ISIL is absolutely true. We know how terrorism works. The idea is to use the minimum amount of people…the areas that welcomed ISIS, every one of them has lived to regret it. You have a movement that no one wants to join…so in order to get themselves on the map, what do they have to do? They have to behead people, they have to blow up innocent people, and they have to get the most powerful nation on the earth to take them seriously. And boy have we played into their hands.”

Todd Herman: “As a conservative that identifies with the Republican party, I stand behind his call to stop nation building. It’s a mistake. It’s not something we can do. We cannot solve the world’s ills. We can protect our country. I stood by his statement that it depends on the voters. That if we are sick of the corruption in DC, if we are sick of the political process as it exists, it is the process we built, we elect these people. This is the government we deserve.”

The bad

Todd Herman: “The unemployment numbers are pure fiction. When you go long-term unemployed you disappear from the numbers, so those aren’t counted. You have 92 million people that are not in the labor force, so I don’t buy those numbers. Secondly, you see a lot of people who have lost full-time work and have gotten part-time jobs. So I don’t think the numbers match up with the president’s optimistic appraisal.”

Ross noted that the president has tried to make compromises during his presidency, and that is why his speech may have troubled different sides of the aisle at different times.

Dave Ross: “This is the curse of somebody who actually tries to solve problems. You will tick-off both sides. And that’s what he has found himself in. I’ve supported this president from the beginning…he went in there as a problem solver, and somebody willing to compromise a lot. Even now you see it. The Democrats did not applaud the Trans-Pacific Partnership (portion of the speech). The unions absolutely hate that. There’s a lot of stuff that he has not done which has left Bernie Sanders a huge opening, which he is taking advantage of. The president has been a moderate on gun control. It got exactly one line tonight.”

The ugly:

Rantz noted that, while the president didn’t name specific presidential hopefuls making headlines with divisive statements, he touched upon the trend of politicians making jarring remarks. South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who gave the Republican response after the State of the Union speech, also made veiled comments about the issue. They were “clear digs at Ted Cruz and Donald Trump,” Rantz said.

Ross said that such behavior is the nature of an election year.

“Whether you can possibly calm the fears of people in an election year when the entirety of the political machine is focused on scaring you to death, because that is the only way to raise money, I doubt he did that,” Ross said.

Todd Herman: “It’s not just the Republicans, it’s fundraising on both sides. Bernie Sanders says that if we don’t stop the banks, you’re not going to have a home, you’re not going to have a future. Are we overselling the fear? I think we are not. I think we are not overselling the discomfort Americans feel, in my perception, of a rudderless time in our country. I think that shows with Bernie Sanders’ very strong, vibrant appeal to the Democratic base &#8212 and that of a guy I don’t support at all, Trump and his strong-man approach.”

“I can’t support Trump, I’m fairly certain I can’t vote for him. Here’s where I have trouble with this. When the Little Sisters of the Poor, the president goes to the mat and the supreme court to force them to violate their faith, I have a little bit of a problem with (Obama) finger wagging what someone says versus what he has done under the force of law.”

The other stuff:

Dave Ross: “I think we have come to acknowledge, through this president, some of the missteps we’ve made in the past in places like the Middle East where we throw our weight around and thought because we are America, they won’t notice that we bullied them. That’s coming back to bite us now. I think he has helped us to come to grips with our history, and accept we made mistakes and will not make those same mistakes again.”

Todd Herman “One objective note of the president’s speech…it was less theatrical than I expected. Honestly, if I felt the president really meant that he wanted us to get along and put aside thinking of political opposite is evil, or having bad motives, if I really thought he meant that I would be very enthusiastic about that.”

Dave Ross: “I think he means it. He’s talking about his legacy now. He plans on being an activist president (during his last year), probably on the order of Carter and Clinton. He has nothing to gain by creating more political strife.”

The Iran in the room

Rantz noted that the president mention Iran, and America’s recent deal with the Middle East country, but did not mention the issue that Iranian military is currently holding American soldiers hostage. Rantz said many were surprised that there wasn’t any mention of the current event.

Dave Ross: “Why would they be surprised? This is what stuns me. Our people have been captured by the Iranians, and not just by the ordinary Iranian military, but by the Revolutionary Guard. These people are the fanatics. Why would you jeopardize their safety by making it an issue in the State of the Union address? You shut up.

“You are talking about our military people. You don’t, to score points or to mollify the crowds, you don’t put their lives in jeopardy by inserting a last-minute thing into a speech. You think these things thorough.”

Todd Herman: I partially stand with Dave Ross on this. I think the president should have mentioned prayers for them and that they are working on it … what you said is so indicative of this legacy. His signature foreign policy achievement is an agreement that has not been signed. My understanding is that there is no room for signatures on it. It is a non-binding agreement. If that is the big legacy in foreign policy, it leaves a lot to be desired.