The American Jobs Act--THE SPEECH

Was it as good as his "Walls of Jericho" Speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church? No, but then again if he gave that speech with Froggy the Gremlin McConnell in the house the old man's head would explode. But someday I just wish he would give his "gospel" speech before Congress just to see the looks on their faces.

President Obama finally managed to synthezise his emotional appeal with his cool, rational approach with that great touch of geek. Some bloggers said it was the greatest presidential speech in decades. I don't know about that but it was an excellent speech that elevated the mundane issue of job creation to a philosophical level.

The one thing I noticed is that the Democrats and their allies, the trade unions and others, had their messaging unified for this speech and followed it with a coordinated push. I haven't seen that before and was pleased. Usually we are treated by an organized reaction by the Republicans. I thought it was significant that John Boehner turned down the opportunity to have a Republican response to the speech. He avoided at least one trap.

For those who were tired of the President being pushed around by Republicans, he took the fight to them and challenged them to reject ideas that they would have supported in the past. The ball is literally in their court. And it was clear from his tone that the Republican obstructionism got us to this point. The whole speech put the Republicans on notice, especially when he said that the next election is 14 months away but the average American can't wait 14 months.

He also did something, which he might do in the future. The American Jobs Act is a bill written by the President or the Executive, which specifies the actions needed to be taken. He avoided the whole mess of the Healthcare Act by writing down the parameters of the bill without opening it for endless discussion. He would have saved himself much grief if he had done this before.

He also went BIG. He even went Bigger than what I had guessed. This is about $500 billion or the equivalent of another stimulus bill and with significant funding beyond tax breaks. Politically, he basically coopted everyone from progressives to the de-regulating Republicans.

In going BIG, he also included funding for the retention and re-hiring of the teachers and other state government employees who have been gutted by the Republican Governors' austerity programs.

The infrastructure element of the ACT was also bigger than I thought and he delivered this message with a few political zingers about the road from Kentucky to Ohio and the road in Houston. So the constituents of the Republicans there can lobby them for passage.

He also did something that DC has been debating. Democrats have been arguing that the Commission of 12 that must handle the deficit issue should also be responsible for job creation. Obama did something quite clever. He pushed the American Jobs Act into their domain by telling them--add this to the deficit and figure out how to pay for it. I thought that was political brillance.

The most powerful places in the speech had to do with the contrast in his philosophy of the role of government and that of the Republicans, who now advocate a rugged individualism and eliminating whole areas of government. I thought he made his case for government action very clearly and pointedly with references of all the things government has initiated. "Are we on a race to the bottom" where we compete for having the lowest wages?Nice touch. Especially when the previous night saw Republican presidential hopefuls advocate eliminating the minimum wage.

He gave a ringing affirmation of our social safety net and our responsibility to one another as the camera panned to Rand Paul. He also gave a vocal support for the right of collective bargaining around the world.

The Republicans cheered his idea to hire 1 million veterans, but I know they won't do anything about it.

As a rhetorical device, he structured the speech around the line, "Pass the Bill" and X happens. Basically, this is his campaign and will become the cheer for the next few months. He asked Americans who support what he said to contact their congressman or woman to urge them to pass it. Tomorrow he goes to Richmond, Ricky Cantor's neighborhood to campaign on it.

For all the noise last night about the lack of President Obama's leadership qualities,tonight's speech showcased them. It was clear that the Republicans had been roughed up in their home districts over recess about the lack of job bills in the House. Boehner and Cantor's tweeted responses to the President's speech were low-key and constructive, unlike the past. Don't get your hopes up.

Few Americans saw the responses by Romney and Perry. Perry was the same government spending argument and blasting the price tag of the bill. Romney was his condescending self with a little video attacking Obama with power point bullet points. Both men looked small.

The Progressive Caucus was not too thrilled, focusing their attacks on what he said about Medicare and Medicaid reform and Social Security. This was picked up by Ed Schultz, who hammered on President Obama's statement that Medicare had to be reformed. And of course, the Prfesident will cave and the safety net will disappear, etc. I expect the overall positive message will be swallowed up in the next few days in the progressive blogs by obscure discussions on what the payroll tax cuts mean to Social Security and how Obama gave the Republicans a weapon.

I have no idea about the full impact of the Bill on our economy. President Obama did list a number of things that will immediately create jobs, which I had raised doubts about.

One element of the speech--the Jobs Council--raised the question why hasn't the Administration rolled out initiatives one by one with corporate sponsors nearby. Why haven't they orchestrated a string of these events to emphasize the constant concern of the President about job creation? I caught that with his earlier roll-out of the Veterans' initiative about hiring 1 million returning veterans and retraining 100,000. There were no other faces there.

From the run-up to this speech and the coordinated aftermath, I hope we have seen the President get his messaging unit under control and focused in the right direction.

I thought the whole package of the speech was excellent political strategy, reminsicent of the Obama I voted for. You have to admit it is great to have a younger, eloquent and classy President. His vision of the country is of a Big Country and not a small and mean society of social Darwinism.

I'm sure given the media track record every single little proposal will be dissected and discarded.

For tonight, the winds have changed. Watson, I feel a West Wind blowing.