Obama preaches to the USC choir (Mary Slosson)

President Barack Obama spent half of his speech at USC touting his own accomplishments. But the country doesn't seem to like his accomplishments! Hence the second half of the speech– blame Republicans for how bad things are.

The speech included a five minute metaphor about a car getting stuck in a ditch, and Democrats trying to push it out, but Republicans kicking dirt into the ditch, and Blanche Lincoln losing her AAA card (OK I made that last one up)... the point being that era of post-partisanship is over. Obama's message: the Republicans got us into this mess, the Democrats and I got us out of it (even though it doesn't look like it), and now the Republicans want to go backward.

Tis the season for partisan attacks. A week and a half before the election, no one's trying to persuade anyone of anything. They're just trying to make sure their side votes early and often. When it comes to getting out the vote, fear will always trump hope.

Noticeably absent from the president's speech were any promises, policy proposals, or hopes for the future. If anything, his pledge was to stop the Republicans from stopping him.

Gone were the lofty goals and soaring hopes of yesteryear. Nothing about a climate change bill, or stimulating the economy, or closing Guantanamo Bay. Nothing about an end to the war in Afghanistan, or about earning back the good will of the rest of the world. There was no positive incentive presented to vote for the Democratic party, just the fear– one based in reality, I should say– that the Republicans would try to roll back his accomplishments.  

The president did say he would "continue to fight "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." So rare is it that a politician of Obama's stature says something that is so blatantly far from the truth. While it's true that the Obama administration has taken steps to end the Clinton-era policy, it also sought a temporary stay of an injunction against Don't Ask Don't Tell (the stay was granted on Wednesday). This was done in the grand tradition of the government defending its own laws in court– but what's the point of defending a law that you yourself are supposedly against? It can't help but look like wishy-washy, toe-the-line politics that Democrats are known for. 

That and just plain pandering: "America doesn't play for second place. We play for first place. We play for first." Seriously? Are we really back to the whole world being a competition that American can't stand not to win?

Perhaps the dearth of proposals betrays Obama's knowledge that the Democrats are about to lose the House (though probably not the Senate), which will make any promise rather difficult to carry out. Or maybe it's an attempt to give the people what they want: nothing.