The President of the United States gave his final State of Union Address on January 12th, 2016. With just a year left in his presidency, he focused on comforting the American people on topics such as the economy and national security.
Two days later, the Republican Presidential candidates met for the first debate of the year in South Carolina, with less than a month before the primaries. They used the majority of this time to blatantly deny Obama’s assurance that everything was going great in our country.
The President and the Republican Presidential Candidates disagreed on three major points.
1. Immigration
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Directly addressing Trump, Obama claimed that it is crucial to “reject any politics that target people because of race or religion.” He has previously stated that these ideas are completely defiant towards American principles.
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Trump did not back down when asked by Maria Bartiromo, one of the moderators, if he wanted to retract his bold statements about Muslims that have caused uproar in recent weeks. Senator Marco Rubio refused to stir up further controversy and generalized immigration. Rubio stated that, “If [he] does not know who [they] are and [does] not know why [they] are coming," as President, he would not allow them to enter within our borders.
2. The Economy
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Just hours before the State of the Union, the newly elected speaker of the House, Republican Paul Ryan, claimed that our country’s economy was "weak." That night, President Obama quickly fired back, stating that we have the “strongest, most durable country in the world.”
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During the debate on Thursday, Presidential candidate Jeb Bush argued that, due to the lack of financial security, “our friends no longer think we have their back and our enemies no longer fear us.” The rest of the candidates continued to criticize Obama-implemented programs that are believed to be contributing to the monetary crisis such as Obamacare, welfare, and social security.
3. Threat from ISIS
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Obama has stated over and over again that ISIL has not posed a direct threat to the world, and especially the United States, due to their lack of organization, financial support, and resources. Last Tuesday, he further affirmed that the United States is playing directly into their hands, as several GOP candidates have spoken boldly about the possibility of imminent danger.
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The fear about national security that is looming over our country has clearly favored the Republican Party. Rubio claims that the President “doesn’t understand the threat in ISIS… [and] consistently underestimates it.” John Kasich and several others such as Governor Chris Christie promised that, if elected, they would expand the military and declare war on ISIS once and for all.
With twelve candidates still in the running for the Republican nomination and 3 individuals striving to keep the Democratic administration in power, the 2016 decision seems almost unpredictable.
A lot can happen between now and November.
