“That’s his crispest area of progress,’’ said Julian Zelizer, a Princeton University history professor. “But strengthening the middle class, diminishing inequality, and revitalizing the economy: those are the things he wants to focus in on and that will set him up for the fall campaign.’’
Mitch Daniels, darling of fiscal conservatives and governor of the usually GOP state of Indiana, which Obama won in 2008, will deliver the Republican response to the State of the Union.
The Republican presidential candidates have repeatedly criticized Obama’s three years in office as a failed presidency. Romney, in debates and on the stump, has accused him of creating an “entitlement society.’’ Newt Gingrich has labeled him the “food stamp president.’’
For Obama, the speech is his best opportunity yet to wrest attention back from a very volatile and engaging GOP primary season.
“The president understands that this Republican nomination contest has shifted the focus away from him and the White House, so this is an attempt to turn the attention back to what Obama and the Democrats will be doing if they get another term,’’ Dallek said. “This is his forum. He’s got center stage.’’
