“My job is not to represent the world, my job is to represent the United States.” – President Donald J. Trump
Political pundits and nerds (such as me) rushed home last night to watch President Donald Trump’s first return to the Capitol since being inaugurated over a month ago. Try to realize such an event is like the Oscar’s for political junkies and party enthusiasts. Mr. Trump’s presidential address to Congress, racked up 48 million viewers, undoubtedly curious about the direction he plans to take the country in, but he missed the high water mark set by former President Obama in 2009 at his first address to Congress – a whopping 52 million viewers.
From my perspective, the speech was optimistic, visionary and painted a soaring image of an America that we all desire to see come to fruition – unified, strong and prosperous.
Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention and subsequent demagoguery throughout the campaign turned off conservatives such as me. We mostly subscribe to another brand of conservatism with a foundation built on the legacy of Ronald Reagan; well Trumpism is fundamentally different than Reganism, so a fissure emerged in the GOP after the convention. Candidate Trump exploited the division to attract a new base of voters, but President Trump appears to be focused on unity and healing open wounds.
Generally, most people agree we may have finally seen Trump pivot last night, after a very long wait. Former Bush43 speechwriter Marc Thiessen thought it was one of the “best ever”. Even the cable news shows were largely in agreement Trump knocked one out the park last night with CNN registering high marks from viewers who watched the speech. However it’s too early to judge whether that was because the bar was set too low from the beginning or if the policies that he continues to promote will actually find their way winding through the sausage making factory that we know as Congress.
President Trump opened up with a focus on civil rights, highlighting we still have “work that needs to be done”, which comes on the tail end of a new executive order signed to provide more federal resources to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. African-American students often come from the most challenged economic and social environments, so HBCUs provide a choice and viable pathway for a constituency often shut out from attending traditional institutions where entrance requirements, tuition and expenses may be a challenge.
Trump at one point stated education is the “civil rights issue of the 21st century”, a comment that spoke directly to my spirit and one that would have erupted in Democrats cheering in the previous administration – but the political divide in Washington has deepened and the chasm prevented any expression of agreement in fear voters watching closely at home may punish elected officials for jumping on the #TrumpTrain.
Consider the President’s call for a “big league” infrastructure spending bill – $1 Trillion, allocated to improving the nation’s crumbling airports, highways and schools. Not to mention, he wants paid family leave, more resources for childcare services and protectionist trade measures. Typically a bag full of goodies that would attract the Democrats to the table, but Trump may be in for his toughest negotiation yet.
Democrats remain concerned about other compartments of the #TrumpTrain – tougher enforcement of immigration laws, a repeal of ObamaCare, travel bans, tax reform and loosening of federal regulations providing oversight to the financial and energy industry.
Trump being Trump, he didn’t back down from any campaign promises, no moderation on his stance for a border wall to curtail the number of undocumented immigrants flooding the country. But his speech combined his policies with poetic prose to reveal a new America – a more inwardly focused country, with populist initiatives – however even the most junior political observer recognized the speech had a striking vision, but no details.
Congress is looking for leadership from the new administration about their expectations for how these measures are to be achieved, which elements are the highest priority and what methods should be considered to resource these ideas.
Like Trump, I’m a big thinker, eternal optimist and believe in his mantra – “everything broken, can be fixed” – but if we truly want to massively reform the tax code, increase military spending to preserve national security interests or reduce the national debt (not even mentioned in the speech) – then we need the new administration to lead through action, not words.
Algenon Cash is the managing director of Wharton Gladden & Company, an investment banking firm, and a regular contributor to a wide variety of media outlets. Reach him at acash@algenoncash.com.
