Former speechwriters preview Obama’s State of the Union speech
Click on photo to enlarge or download: Richard Wolffe, MSNBC analyst and panel moderator, from left, and former speechwriters Vinca LaFleur, John McConnell, Chriss Winston and Bob Lehrman at a panel discussion at the Bipartisan Policy Center on the upcoming SOTU. SHFWire Photo by Jordain CarneyWASHINGTON - Four former White House speechwriters called the State of the Union “a laundry list” of legislative priorities.
A State of the Union is not “an address where you typically see the kind of rhetoric that ends up engraved in marble,” Vinca LaFleur, a former speechwriter to President Bill Clinton, said. “It’s a policy statement and an agenda-setting statement.”
The writers spoke at a panel hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center Tuesday, a few hours before President Barack Obama will deliver his speech to a joint session of Congress.
The State of the Union, by its very nature, presents a challenge to present “large themes,” John McConnell, a former speechwriter to President George W. Bush, said “You’re going to have a lot of topics. And a lot of transitions between topics.”
The writers discussed their experiences writing for presidents.
“One of the battles that we faced, which was probably very different than what John faced during his time, was actually getting foreign policy into the State of the Union,” LaFleur said.
McConnell responded: “Well you’re right, the Bush speechwriters did not have a problem getting foreign policy into the State of the Union.”
The panel, moderated by MSNBC’s Richard Wolffe, made many predictions about what would appear in Tuesday evening’s State of the Union.
“I think that the American people have kind of had it with all of the fighting and so on that’s been going on between the White House and the House and Senate, Congress,” Chriss Winston, former chief speechwriter to President George H.W. Bush, said. “Coming in with an angry tone would not be received well by many of the audience.”
The panel also looked at the State of the Union in the context of an election year, saying Obama would likely make his case for a second term.
“I think he is going to make a strong case that things are getting better in the country,” McConnell said. “And then the undercurrent of the rest of the speech is going to be ‘things are going to get even better, unimaginably better, if you pass my legislative program.’”
Bob Lehrman, former chief speechwriter to Vice President Al Gore, said Obama will use a tactic that he has before: conceding a point to the opposition.
“When researchers look at how people react to those things, people don’t interpret that as weak, they say, ‘Well, here’s a reasonable person,’” Lehrman said. “He’ll have to draw some firm lines – this is an election year – but that’ll be part of the speech too.”
This State of the Union will also give viewers an insight into what the Obama administration will attempt to achieve in the next few months.
“People that research these things say this is not just blather. Presidents usually make between 30 and 40 legislative requests in a State of the Union,” Lehrman said. “Even in divided government, 40 percent of those pass within the next year. This is a blueprint for a lot of significant things that will get done in the next year.”
Reach reporter Frank Bumb at bumbf@shns.com or 202-326-9871. SHFWire stories are free to any news organization that gives the reporter a byline and credits the SHFWire.
