On Tuesday, President Barack Obama will deliver the final State of the Union address of his presidency.
The White House says the address will be non-traditional and that Mr. Obama will not ask Congress for a long list of items. The president is expected to talk about a series of issues, including his most recent move of bypassing Congress by using his executive authority to expand gun rules.
This morning on TV One’s NewsOne Now, Roland Martin and panel discussed what we should expect to hear from our Commander-in-Chief during this evening’s State of the Union address.
NewsOne Now panelist Parris Dennard said, “It is a smart thing for the president to not try to list a lot of priorities that he wants to do legislatively” and believes Obama should “focus on the future and to inspire the country.”
“I hope that he will go back to the Senator Obama that we saw at the DNC and in many of his earlier speeches running for president that inspired and brought the country together, because I think that is exactly what we need today,” said Dennard.
David Swerdlick, Assistant Editor at The Washington Post, shared some of the similar views of what Pres. Obama should say during his final State of the Union address, saying, “It’s probably at this stage in his presidency not the way to do a long laundry list of policy or legislative priorities.”
Swerdlick told Martin that Pres. Obama should focus on “a couple of key issues” and “put a bow on all the things he’s done over the last few years.”
Swerdlick also explained Obama should use his final State of the Union address to “really explain to people” his executive action on gun control and use the opportunity to “clean up” the “poor messaging” on ISIS and national security.
Martin, host of NewsOne Now, told the panel Pres. Obama should continue to press his agenda, saying, “When there is still time on the clock, you keep playing. You don’t sort of sit here and begin to reflect on what happened in the previous three-quarters.”
“No,” said Martin, “you win the game.”
Martin believes the president should take the opportunity to remind Congress that this is his last year, remind lawmakers on Capitol Hill they voted 62 times to repeal the Affordable Care Act, and challenge them “to get to work.”
The host of NewsOne Now emphatically stated Mr. Obama should press the members of Congress to get to work on jobs and the economy “as opposed to keep doing these silly votes” to repeal health care.
Martin also believes Pres. Obama should not have vetoed the latest bill placed on his desk to repeal one of the most significant accomplishments of his presidency last week. He thinks President Obama should veto the bill during tonight’s State of the Union address, turn around, and hand the vetoed bill to Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan.
If that were to happen, that would probably be the exact moment President Obama should drop the mic and walk out.
Watch Roland Martin and the NewsOne Now panel discuss what we should expect from President Barack Obama’s final State of the Union address in the video clip above.
TV One’s NewsOne Now has moved to 7 A.M. ET, be sure to watch “NewsOne Now” with Roland Martin, in its new time slot on TV One.
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