- Obama's body language avoided impression balance of power has shifted
- He gave his State of the Union address to Republican-controlled Congress
- But he refrained from being conciliatory with defiant gestures and barbs
- Contained within his speech were a host of threats to use veto powers
Pumping his arms, pointing his index finger and gesturing with
his hands, President Barack Obama's body language at last night's State of the Union speech was anything but conciliatory.
Although he admitted having flaws and promised to seek
Republican ideas, he deliberately avoided giving the impression
that the balance of power in Washington had shifted away from
the Oval Office that he will occupy for two more years.
Obama gave his hour-long, annual State of the Union address yesterday to the first fully Republican-controlled
Congress of his presidency, and the mood was anything but
conciliatory.
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President Barack Obama points towards the crowd - the first fully Republican-controlled Congress of his presidency
'I have no more campaigns to run,' he said, causing a
smattering of Republican applause, followed by laughter.
That did not sit well with the competitive president, who
ad-libbed immediately: 'I know 'cause I won both of 'em.
Obama won the White House in 2008 and 2012, but Republicans
won a majority in both houses of Congress in 2014. The president
acknowledged that with a host of veto threats in his speech.
He also spiced up his remarks with a wish that the
government not 'screw things up' on the economy. The phrase did
not appear in his prepared remarks.
Obama's body language and verbal barbs were not the only
theatrics on display.
Republican Speaker of the House of Representatives John
Boehner, who sat behind Obama, kept a serious look on his face
for much of the night.
Vice President Joe Biden, who sat beside Boehner, looked
giddy, blowing a kiss to his wife, Jill, who sat in the balcony
with first lady Michelle Obama.
Choreography played a key role in the speech and its long
rollout. The White House began announcing the key policy
proposals from the address two weeks ago, getting the 'news' out
in the open before the big night.
Then some 15 minutes before Obama started
speaking, the White House deliberately broke its own embargo,
posting a copy of Obama's remarks online for all to see.
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The President's body language revealed
he was determined not to give the impression the balance of power had
not shifted away from the Oval Office
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Obama's speech was littered with ad-libbed barbs directed at the Republican congress
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Members of Congress sit stony-faced as the President delivers his State of the Union speech
The White House website also featured a movie-like trailer
complete with a soundtrack, hashtags and reference to Biden's
infamous expletive when the president signed healthcare reform
into law: 'It's a BFD.' Translation, minus the bad word: Big
(freaking) deal.
Back in the chamber, lawmakers engaged in the obligatory
ritual of standing and applauding when they agreed with the
president's words, or sitting grim-faced when they did not.
Some waved pencils in solidarity with the victims of the
recent shootings at a satirical newspaper in Paris. Alan Gross,
recently freed from a Cuban jail, mouthed: 'Thank you, thank
you' to Obama when the president addressed him with 'Welcome
home, Alan.'
Spots of color jazzed up the chamber, mostly via female
lawmakers' outfits. But Obama wore a dark suit and signature
blue tie, despite an adviser's joke on Twitter suggesting that
he had donned the tan number that garnered immense attention
when he wore it at a White House briefing last year
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