President Barack Obama offered a broad defense of his administration on Tuesday, delivering what amounted to a valedictory address for his final State of the Union, while offering a pointed critique of Donald Trump and other Republicans who he says are “peddling fiction” about the economy.

While offering an optimistic tone about the future, Obama acknowledged that Americans are feeling anxious about the rapid amount of change, but hit at the GOP for preying on such fears. “I told you earlier all the talk of America’s economic decline is political hot air,” Obama said.

He also made an oblique reference to Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again,” when he warned against those who try to sell a return to a past, supposedly better era.

“Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control. And each time, we overcame those fears,” he said. “We did not, in the words of Lincoln, adhere to the ‘dogmas of the quiet past.’ Instead we thought anew, and acted anew. We made change work for us, always extending America’s promise outward, to the next frontier, to more and more people. And because we did — because we saw opportunity where others saw only peril — we emerged stronger and better than before.”

In his speech, Obama hit on four major themes: giving people a fair shot at economic opportunity, using technology to tackle challenges such as climate change, keeping America safe without turning it into the world’s «policeman,» and improving the dysfunctional political system. He also announced a new national effort to cure cancer.

The speech included plenty of references to achievements under Obama’s watch, especially on the economic front. Its emphasis on America’s strength and capability also stood in contrast to the doom-and-gloom broadsides on the Republican presidential campaign trail, and Obama’s implied political message was clear: unless a Democrat succeeds him, the progress made during his two terms could be reversed.

“The future we want — opportunity and security for our families; a rising standard of living and a sustainable, peaceful planet for our kids — all that is within our reach. But it will only happen if we work together,” the president told a packed House of Representatives chamber, according to a written version of his remarks. “It will only happen if we can have rational, constructive debates. It will only happen if we fix our politics.”

As Obama enters the eighth year of his presidency, he is already battling for attention, thanks in no small part to the incendiary rhetoric from Trump, the GOP presidential poll leader whose demands include the mass deportation on undocumented immigrants and a ban on Muslims seeking to enter the United States. As if the campaign snark and prebuttals by Republican leaders weren’t enough on Tuesday, Obama also delivered his speech in the wake of news that Iran had taken into custody 10 U.S. sailors whose vessels had apparently drifted into Iranian waters.

Despite grousing by some Republicans, the president in his prepared text didn’t mention the sailors — whom Iran has promised will be released promptly.

Obama and his aides switched up the typical State of the Union format this year, avoiding listing a slew of proposed initiatives likely to go nowhere in a GOP-led Congress during an election year. (Early in his speech, Obama humorously nodded to the 2016ers in the crowd, saying he would try to keep the speech shorter than normal because «I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa.»)

The president did, however, try to make the case for still-unfinished initiatives in the works, such as criminal justice reform. Obama also made it clear he’s not intending to act as a lame duck even if it is his last year. For instance, he announced he was launching a new national effort to cure cancer, and that Vice President Joe Biden, who recently lost his son to the disease, would oversee it. It’s an initiative Obama, quoting Biden, compared to America’s trip to the moon.

For the loved ones we’ve all lost, for the family we can still save, let’s make America the country that cures cancer once and for all,” Obama said.

On the economy, Obama stressed how far the country had come since teetering on the verge of a depression as he took office, noting that the U.S. is “in the middle of the longest streak of private-sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs; the strongest two years of job growth since the ’90s; an unemployment rate cut in half.”

«Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,» Obama said.

But he also acknowledged the ongoing anxiety among American workers, especially as technological changes have affected so many fields.

“Today, technology doesn’t just replace jobs on the assembly line, but any job where work can be automated. Companies in a global economy can locate anywhere, and face tougher competition. As a result, workers have less leverage for a raise. Companies have less loyalty to their communities. And more and more wealth and income is concentrated at the very top,” Obama said.

The solutions, Obama said, include an improved education system, changing “outdated regulations” on the private sector, and strengthening Social Security and other safety net programs.

On foreign policy, Obama called on Congress to pass a new «authorization for the use of military force» measure that would essentially renew the legal basis for the U.S. fight against terrorist groups such as the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL. Such proposals have failed to gain traction in Congress, despite bipartisan efforts, but there is renewed interest in the House. But even as Obama outlined the steps his administration has taken to fight the Islamic State, he also tried to put the threat of terrorism in perspective.

«As we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands,» he said. «Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence. That’s the story ISIL wants to tell; that’s the kind of propaganda they use to recruit.»

The president also reiterated his desire to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, a longstanding goal made hard to achieve due to restrictions imposed by Congress. The president said the prison is «expensive, it’s unnecessary, and it only serves as a recruitment brochure for our enemies.»

Obama cast his administration’s restoration of diplomatic ties to Cuba as a wise move that could yield more dividends if Congress were to allow it. «You want to consolidate our leadership and credibility in the hemisphere? Recognize that the Cold War is over. Lift the embargo» on Cuba, Obama said.

Obama also urged lawmakers to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive trade deal among Pacific Rim nations. Despite strong GOP support for the trade agreement, the odds of speedy approval are not high: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has already said the TPP shouldn’t be debated until after the 2016 election.

While expressing frustration over the partisan rancor in Washington, Obama delved into details about how to fix the political system, which he said has been corrupted on multiple fronts.

«We have to end the practice of drawing our congressional districts so that politicians can pick their voters, and not the other way around,» Obama said. «We have to reduce the influence of money in our politics, so that a handful of families and hidden interests can’t bankroll our elections — and if our existing approach to campaign finance can’t pass muster in the courts, we need to work together to find a real solution. We’ve got to make voting easier, not harder, and modernize it for the way we live now. And over the course of this year, I intend to travel the country to push for reforms that do.»

At one point, Obama also urged an end to «politics that targets people because of race or religion» — another apparent jab at Trump, who proposed the temporary ban on Muslims after the terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino.

«When politicians insult Muslims, when a mosque is vandalized, or a kid bullied, that doesn’t make us safer,» he said. «That’s not telling it like it is. It’s just wrong. It diminishes us in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder to achieve our goals. And it betrays who we are as a country.»

On that front, there were signs that the GOP leadership is also wary of the divisiveness emerging from the 2016 race.

According to excerpts of the Republican response to the State of the Union, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley will apparently take a veiled swipe at Trump.

“Today, we live in a time of threats like few others in recent memory,” Haley will say. “During anxious times, it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation. No one who is willing to work hard, abide by our laws, and love our traditions should ever feel unwelcome in this country.»

First lady Michelle Obama’s guests symbolized some of the more contentious disputes pitting Obama against Republicans. One chair was left empty in honor of victims of gun violence. Another seat went to Refaai Hamo, a Syrian refugee. Other guests symbolized issues including drug addiction, technological innovation and gay marriage.

West Wing aides, mindful that many Americans are monitoring the speech on mobile devices, ramped up their social media use to boost Obama’s message. Well ahead of the speech, #SOTU was trending on Twitter. The White House also annotated the speech on Genius and offered up behind-the-scenes moments on SnapChat and Instagram. The president gave interviews to YouTube stars late last week, and sat down with Matt Lauer from NBC’s “Today” on Monday.

In the interview with Lauer, which aired Tuesday, Obama voiced regret at not being the unifying force he had hoped to be — and campaigned on — since reaching the White House. He expressed similar frustration on Tuesday night, saying, “It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency — that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better. There’s no doubt a president with the gifts of Lincoln or Roosevelt might have better bridged the divide, and I guarantee I’ll keep trying to be better so long as I hold this office.”

But he also suggested he hadn’t given up on the dreams of “hope and change” — and that Americans shouldn’t, either. «A better politics doesn’t mean we have to agree on everything,» Obama said. «But democracy does require basic bonds of trust between its citizens.»

Politico     January 12, 2016