No matter what President Obama says in his official sixth State of the Union address, the real state of “Obama’s union” is not good.
Given his recent New Yorker interview where he stated that there’s “. . . some folks who just really dislike me because they don’t like the idea of a black president,” one could argue that any problems with the State of Obama’s Union are either race based or due to Fox News or Rush Limbaugh whom he also faulted for his problems.
For nearly six years, Obama has remained silent while his supporters in the mainstream media and the black and white liberal establishments played the race card, accusing anyone opposing his policies of being racists or sellouts.
Such comments makes the president appear to be a whiner not realizing that his unpopularity is based on his policies and lack of leadership and not race, Limbaugh, or Fox News. They are beneath the Office of President of the United States.
As he enters the far turn of his presidency hobbled with record-low poll numbers, it is not inconceivable that he will barely limp across the finish line — especially if he loses his Democratic Senate in November.
Other than his race, will history remember his presidency for any outstanding accomplishments — other than killing Osama bin Laden?
It will record that the president who says that racism contributed to his falling poll numbers averaged 41 percent of the white vote in his two election victories.
It will also note that he received slam-dunk majorities of Asian, black, and Hispanic voters thanks in no small way to the insensitivities and failings of his Republican opponents and their campaigns.
They failed miserably to recognize, respect, and show empathy for these key voter groups and their issues. Whether the same political stupidity will be repeated in key November Senate races is yet to be seen.
If the GOP has not designed an Asian, black, and Hispanic voter strategy for key Senate races for 2014 by now, they are sending the same “we do not want or need you” losing message.
So what is the state of Obama’s union?
According to recent polls, 62 percent of voters say they dislike his policies. His disapproval rating is 53 percent with 59 percent of voters opposing his flagship program Obamacare including 30 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Independents. And, a Bloomberg National Poll last month showed that 58 percent of Americans disapproved of his economic leadership.
History will show that these bad numbers are not due to his race, Fox News, or Rush Limbaugh.
They are due to his failed policies such as Obamacare, a still-struggling economy as well as the lingering cloud of dishonesty and abuse of power hovering over him and his administration.
Obama’s union is defined by scandals such as the IRS’ almost unprecedented abuse of power to punish his and Democrats’ political enemies; outright lies on Obamacare; initial deception regarding the NSA’s collection of data on American citizens; the apparent deception and cover-up on Benghazi and Fast and Furious; the failure to take responsibility or demand accountability; remaining detached, disengaged, uninformed and appearing to be oblivious to anything going on in his own administration; fostering class warfare by pitting the rich against the poor and middle class; and, selective enforcement of the laws.
A few more gems of the state of Obama’s union, as related to blacks, were highlighted in a recent excellent Newsmax.com article by Jennifer G. Hickey:
- Black Americans have overwhelmingly supported Barack Obama in two presidential elections, but they have fallen further behind during his term in office, losing ground in measures of income, employment, and education.
- The national unemployment rate has dropped to 7 percent, but the jobless rate for blacks has hardly moved since Obama took office, declining from 12.7 percent in 2009 to 12.5 percent.
- The poverty rate for blacks sharply increased, rising from 12 percent in 2008 to 16.1 percent. Median income declined by 3.6 percent for white households to $58,000, but fell 10.9 percent to $33,500 for black households.
The article quoted Harry Alford, president of the National Black Chamber of Commerce, saying that “we are worse off than we were when he came into office.”
So, the state of Obama’s union is rather clear based on all of all of the above, and much more not cited, for all Americans.
For Obama’s most loyal supporters, for whom he claims to have a racial umbilical link, the real state of Obama’s union for black Americans was summed up by PBS’s Travis Smiley:
“The data are going to indicate sadly that when the Obama administration is over, black people will have lost ground in every single leading economic indicator category. On that regard the president ought to be held responsible.”
So much for the reality of the “state of Obama’s union.”
Just how close his official State of the Union address reflects reality remains to be seen.
Clarence V. McKee is president of McKee Communications, Inc., a government, political, and media relations consulting firm in Florida. He held several positions in the Reagan administration as well as in the Reagan presidential campaigns and has appeared on many national and local media outlets. Read more reports from Clarence V. McKee — Click Here Now.
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