What Will President Obama Say Tuesday Night?
When President Obama addresses the nation on Tuesday night, he may have as many as 50 million Americans tuning in. It's a chance for him to set the terms of the debate for the coming year. To discuss what he might say, host Michele Norris speaks to NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson.
MICHELE NORRIS, Host:
Mara, so will the president lay out several new initiatives?
MARA LIASSON: The Republican story, of course, is much simpler - cut, cut, cut and rip up the credit cards - but this is what the president is going to try to lay out tomorrow night.
NORRIS: Well, what role might, say, deficit spending play in this new re-election narrative?
LIASSON: Now, of course, Republicans see every one of the president's investments as more unnecessary spending or ineffective stimulus, but that's going to be the big fight over the two next years. And the State of the Union is the president's chance to go first and define the terms of that debate.
NORRIS: Mara, what about the tone in the room? Andrea Seabrook was just telling us about all the Republicans and Democrats that might be sitting together tomorrow night. Does that help the president?
LIASSON: And you saw - that happened already during the lame-duck, during the memorial service in Tucson. His numbers have been going up as he has been able to return to the kind of politician that he was when he first burst on the scene. So I think it will help him, but the speech is only one hour, and soon as it's over, we'll be back to the battle lines and the big fight over spending.
NORRIS: Well, as he lays out what you're calling his re-election narrative, I'm curious about the re-election campaign that we've recently learned that the president is setting up his campaign headquarters far from Washington, in Chicago. Tell us why he decided to do that.
LIASSON: Well, this is the first time that any president has ever set up his re-election campaign so far from Washington. George W. Bush put it in Arlington, right over the river. But the president's aides want to get out of the bubble. They think there's some value to being outside of the Beltway, and they've set up a system where they think they can coordinate very seamlessly with David Plouffe, who's the old architect of the first campaign. He's now going to be inside. David Axelrod is going back to Chicago. There are many Democratic operatives that I've talked to who are skeptical about whether this kind of bifurcated system can work with most of the top - many of the top advisers very far away.
NORRIS: Mara, always good to talk to you.
LIASSON: Good to talk to you too.
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