A mixed record for Obama’s goals

By ERICA WERNER

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

As President Barack Obama prepares to deliver his annual address to Congress, many goals he outlined in previous State of the Union speeches remain unfulfilled. From reforming immigration laws to meeting monthly with congressional leaders of both parties, the promises fell victim to congressional opposition or faded in face of other priorities as the unruly realities of governing set in.

For Obama, like presidents before him, the State of the Union is an opportunity like no other to state his case on a grand stage, before both houses of Congress and a prime-time television audience. But as with other presidents, the aspirations he’s laid out have often turned out to be ephemeral, unable to secure the needed congressional consent or requiring follow-through that’s not been forthcoming.

As Obama’s first term marches to an end amid bitterly divided government and an intense campaign by Republicans to take his job, it’s going to be even harder for him to get things done this year. So tonight’s speech may focus as much on making an overarching case for his presidency — and for a second term — as on the kind of laundry list of initiatives that sometimes characterize State of the Union appeals.

“State of the Union addresses are kind of like the foam-rubber rocks they used on ‘Star Trek’ — they look solid but aren’t,” said Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. “Presidents will talk about solving some policy problem, and then the bold language of the State of the Union address disappears into the messy reality of governing.”

For Obama, last year’s State of the Union offers a case study in that dynamic. Speaking to a newly divided government not long after the assassination attempt on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson, Ariz., Obama pleaded for national unity, a grand goal that never came to pass as Washington quickly dissolved into one partisan dispute after another.

Many of the particulars Obama rolled out that night proved just as hard to pull off.

Among the initiatives Obama promoted then that have yet to come to fruition a year later: eliminating subsidies to oil companies; replacing No Child Left Behind with a better education law; making a tuition tax credit permanent; rewriting immigration laws; and reforming the tax system.

The list of what he succeeded in accomplishing is considerably shorter, including: securing congressional approval of a South Korea free-trade deal; signing legislation to undo a burdensome tax- reporting requirement in his health-care law; and establishing a website to show taxpayers where their tax dollars go.

One of Obama’s pledges from last January’s speech — to undertake a reorganization of the federal government — he got around to rolling out only this month. And other promises are vaguer or more long-term, such as declaring a “Sputnik moment” for today’s generation and calling for renewed commitments to research and development and clean- energy technology; pushing to prepare more educators to teach science, technology and math; promoting high-speed rail and accessible broadband; and seeking greater investments in infrastructure.