Democrats reflect as Republicans criticise Obama’s final State of the Union

President Barack Obama is on the attack, and his Republican opponents are eager to join the battle, signaling that it will be another rough year for compromise in Washington.

Tuesday night, he showed that skill again in his final State of the Union address.

Obama’s speech, unlike his earlier State of the Union addresses, drew more scattered applause.

Goren says that President Obama stress the need for citizens “to be involved…to be better citizens, to be active, to be engaged, to have principled disagreements but to not let them destroy relationships and understandings of how we operate as citizens”. That didn’t stop most candidates from tweeting through the duration of the speech. Despite crossing that order of business off the list (cybersecurity legislation became law as part of the December 2015 Omnibus spending bill), the past year has hardly been void of cybersecurity news.

The United States President, Barack Obama, has vigorously defended his legacy while striking an optimistic note for America’s future in his final State of the Union address.

When he was campaigning for president in 2008, Mr. Obama pledged to “turn the page on the ugly partisanship in Washington, so we can bring Democrats and Republicans together to pass an agenda that works for the American people”.

“Most importantly, I think President Obama made it crystal clear that the union is strong”.

Finally, he talked at length about improving the state of politics and debate.

“Each time, there have been those who told us to fear the future; who claimed we could slam the brakes on change, promising to restore past glory if we just got some group or idea that was threatening America under control”.

Mr. Obama said for the American leadership to sustain, the country had to fix its internal politics.

He said, “It’s not enough to change a congressman or a senator or a president”. Health care barely came up – and the president had more to say about worldwide affairs and war.

He also admitted that his big regret that “the rancour and suspicion” between the Democratic and Republican parties in Congress has gotten worse instead of better during his presidency.

“The president wanted to travel to a state that demonstrated his commitment to talking to people other than just his supporters”, Earnest said.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, chosen to deliver the response, went as far as to join Mr Obama in thinly veiled criticisms of Mr Trump.