Pres. Obama spoke to General Assembly in Springfield, IL

The tone of Obama’s speech to the Illinois General Assemly wasn’t exactly a scolding, but more a lamentation of the polarized nature of current American politics coupled with a hopeful sentiment that Americans can and should be encouraged to do better.

OBAMA: I have, as president, obviously done soul-searching about what are things I could do differently to help bridge some of those divides. Dunkin jumped out of his chair and shouted “Yes!” before Obama verbally slammed him.

The President said, “We’ve always gone through periods where our democracy seems stuck”. “I know we can achieve great things for IL by having mutual respect for one another and focusing on bipartisan compromise to achieve what’s best for the long-term future of our great state”.

“See, I didn’t want this to be like a State of the Union speech where we have one side standing up and the other sitting down”, Obama said.

This time, of course, Obama is president and could actually do something about it. There are many actions he could take on his own, without approval from Congress or the courts.

Big-ticket legislative items like comprehensive immigration reform and tax code reform have gone by the wayside, mired in partisan arguments that Obama has shown little ability to mitigate.

Less than 24 hours after voters in New Hampshire picked Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders, two insurgent candidates who are challenging the orthodoxies of their respective parties, America is a darker place for Obama.

The governor has said the state is in a “slow death spiral” because Democratic House Speaker Michael Madigan cares more about protecting a privileged “political class”. “When I hear voices in either party boast of their refusal to compromise as an accomplishment in and of itself, I’m not impressed”.

In the address, the president offered ways to change the political climate, including reducing the influence of big money in politics, changing the way congressional districts are drawn and making it easier for people to vote in elections. We’re also considering automatic voter registration for every citizen when they apply for a driver’s license.

Sen. Andy Manar, a Bunker Hill Democrat who was on the Senate Democratic staff when Obama was in the Legislature, said only time will tell.

“And as one of your constituents, I think you should pass that legislation right away. And I still believe we can do it together”.

Now, as he enters the last year of his second term as commander-in-chief, he returned to the capitol city as the first sitting president to address IL lawmakers in almost 40 years.

When Obama entered the presidential race, he was a first-term US senator largely unknown to the American people. The future president remembered getting verbally hazed by his colleagues when he sought passage of his first bill, including one lawmaker asking if Obama was an Irish name.

“It will be when I run countywide”, Obama recalled his bravado response.