GOP Attacks Obama's 'Pro-Poverty' Policies in SOTU Responses (Video)
Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana represented his party with a scathing response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address last night.
Daniels, in response to Obama’s assertion that every American should get a “fair shot” and all should pay their “fair share” in taxes, called the president’s economic policy “pro-poverty,” claiming that “trickle-down government” policies have hindered the country’s economic recovery.
Despite Daniels’ refutation of the Obama administration’s economic strategy, a CBS poll reveals that an overwhelming majority of Americans approved his speech, which focused mainly on potential solutions to the economic struggle of the middle class.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
91 percent of Americans approved of the 2012 State of the Union address, while only 9 percent disapproved of the President’s speech, according to the poll conducted online by Knowledge Networks.
The poll reveals that many Americans changed their opinions of Obama’s economic plans after they heard him speak. Before the speech, 53 percent of those polled approved of the President’s plan. After the speech, though, that number shot up to a nearly-unanimous 82 percent.
One reason for this could be less Obama’s oratorical skill, and more the language he used.
This year’s State of the Union address ranked at about an eighth-grade level, when scored on the Flesch-Kincaid readability test— very easy for many Americans to comprehend and support.
In comparison, other notable presidents’ speeches averaged higher on the scale: John Kennedy’s speeches averaged at a 12th-grade reading level, Franklin Roosevelt’s words clocked in at about the 11th-grade level, and Bill Clinton’s ranked 9.5 on the scale.
Some GOP legislators support the speech as well— they just feel Obama’s words run contrary to his actions.
“Like most of the other speeches, I find myself agreeing with about 80 percent of what he says, but disagreeing with about 80 percent of what he does,” Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas told Politico.
Democrats disagree, and embrace Obama’s bipartisan approach to government.
“He is appealing to the center of political thinking,” said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.
If Obama is truly catering to the center, he is doing it repeatedly— as outlined in an ad supported by the Republican National Committee. In the video, they outline what they call “familiar rhetoric” and “failed record” in an effort to undercut Obama’s reelection effort.
Will they succeed? Watch here:
