Tomorrow night President Obama will face the nation to give his State of the Union Address. Now I will watch to see what he has to say about the economy and about health care. I will watch to see what he has to say about foreign policy and what he has to say about the military. I will watch to see what he has to say about social security and what he has to say about energy. I am curious to see what he outlines regarding issues such as education, web censorship, gay rights, Occupy Wall Street, and immigration. Online gambling and the environment are a couple of other topics I look forward to him addressing. Also, I want to hear him really lay the groundwork for why he should be elected to a second term. Obviously, I am ready to watch the State of the Union for its intended purpose, to hear the report on where our country currently stands and the gameplan for this year.
However, the policy part of the speech is not even close to what interests me most about the State of the Union. While I do have a genuine interest in politics, I don’t really have what you would call a passion for the subject. I read the newspaper every day, I educate myself on the issues, and I have a pretty firm stance on where I stand. But I never felt inclined to join debate in high school nor have I ever or would I ever openly campaign on the streets for a specific candidate (unless if it was a family member). I would never engage in a political discussion with co-workers nor would I write on this blog a political manifesto. Because I don’t have an innate fire for politics, the meat and potatoes of the State of the Union only does so much for me. But that is fine, because as I just said, there is something else that attracts me to this certain night.
I love watching the State of the Union for the tradition, formality, and importance of the speech.
Growing up, the State of the Union was always on at my house. I can remember coming home at night from whatever practice I had and then my dad turning on the TV, always just in time for us to see the important people start entering and taking their seats in the House Chamber. Then would come my absolute favorite part: “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States.”
The State of the Union Address was the only thing growing up that my parents ever allowed to be on the TV while we ate dinner. The speech held a special distinction and importance that allowed it to air on our small kitchen television set. Even though I come from a sports family, no game or sports program ever interrupted our family dinner time, but the State of the Union did.
This reverence and respect for the speech was harnessed in me at a young age and it has stayed with me ever since. I have held onto this special mystique and still watch the State of the Union as a twenty-five year old with the same awe and appreciation as I did when I was a twelve year old.
As I said, the politics really take second fiddle for me when I watch the SOTU. As opposed to watching the speech, I focus more on the “show.” I love watching the camera zoom in on all the various people in attendance at the event. Seeing the past Presidents is always cool. You always want to see how they are holding up and how their wives look as well. I also use the speech to really make an assessment on how the current President looks himself. The Presidency is brutal and it ages everyone. You would be crazy if you said President Obama has not aged about ten years in appearance since taking office. In last year’s SOTU it became pretty obvious to me the toll it had already taken on him. There are always special guests that make appearances as well that help make the speech fun (I will always remember Rosa Parks getting a standing ovation during one of Clinton’s speeches). Growing up, I would always look for our representatives from Washington State to be caught on camera and would always feel a sense of pride when a certain senator or congressperson was specifically singled out and a graphic would show up with their name and their designation as a rep from my home state. I love to people watch in general and to see how individuals react in certain situations so watching how politicians, dignitaries, and special guests conduct themselves during one of the most formal events in the nation (aside from Inauguration Day) is very intriguing to me.
I like the absurdness of the speech as well. The long periods of applause for the President are always uncalled for but deep down inside I know that is just the way it is, no matter what person or which party is in control of the White House. I also get a real kick out of watching the people in attendance at the speech who don’t stand up and applaud for every sentence that the President says. Watching the non-standees shake their heads and grimace always makes me laugh. The way the speech is completely scripted is also humorous to me as well. The media already has a copy of the speech before the President even begins to deliver it. But again, that is just the way it is and what tradition calls for. So even though I find it silly, I also find it totally acceptable.
Finally, what I appreciate so much about the State of the Union is just the importance that is placed on it. Even though the speech is scripted pretty much to each and every word and even though the President is not even required to give such an address, the nation stops everything that it is doing for it. All major networks, public service stations, and the many cable news stations carry the speech live. As a kid I remember clicking through every station that carried the speech, making notes of which stations were using which camera angles and being amused that some of the stations had the speech more delayed than others. The debate on all the news stations both pre and post speech is intense. After the speech, you know the President is going to be hailed a hero by his party and then absolutely picked apart by the opposition party. I eat up the statistics that will come out after Obama’s speech tomorrow: The total minutes of clapping, the number of times he said the word “occupy”, the rank of where his speech falls all-time in length, the number of times he took a drink of water, etc. etc. Twitter will be crazy tomorrow night. Expect big delays. Nothing against you President Obama and CNN, but I will not be getting your tweets directly to my phone tomorrow, I plan to watch it myself, thus I do not need a play-by-play on what is said. And it pretty much goes without saying that this year’s State of the Union carries with it even more weight and scrutiny than usual as it is a Presidential election year.
Enjoy the show, ummm I mean speech, tomorrow night. Please count it as just another example of how lucky we are to live in this country. Our nation’s leader is going to give us an assessment on where the country is at and how we plan to move forward. After that, the Republican Party gets to give their rebuttal. In so many countries where citizens are kept in the dark and thought of as too stupid to comprehend such important issues, we get to hear about what concerns our country and then engage in discussion about it. Be sure to watch the State of the Union tomorrow night. Don’t Blink.
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