Winning the Future: "We Do Big Things"

In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama described his agenda for winning the future, with a reasonable tone and a set of convincing arguments. Convincing enough to win overwhelming approval for his speech in the first two polls, including an approval in the CBS poll of 92%.

The President made "winning the future" a refrain as well as a theme:

"The future is ours to win. But to get there, we can't just stand still. As Robert Kennedy told us, "The future is not a gift. It is an achievement." Sustaining the American Dream has never been about standing pat. It has required each generation to sacrifice, and struggle, and meet the demands of a new age.

Now it's our turn. We know what it takes to compete for the jobs and industries of our time. We need to out-innovate, out-educate, and out-build the rest of the world. We have to make America the best place on Earth to do business. We need to take responsibility for our deficit, and reform our government. That's how our people will prosper. That's how we'll win the future. And tonight, I'd like to talk about how we get there."

In support of it, he used two other notable refrains. He talked about unity as a necessity ("What comes of this moment will be determined not by whether we can sit together tonight, but whether we can work together tomorrow...We will move forward together, or not at all - for the challenges we face are bigger than party, and bigger than politics.") But he didn't describe a timid agenda, a few minor or meaningless areas of agreement. He talked about major initiatives, with large goals--in education, rebuilding American infrastructure, and innovation, particularly by aggressively growing a green economy, to create jobs and make America competitive in a world of real economic competition, especially in these areas of the rapidly onrushing economy of the future.

He made his arguments in terms that were easy to understand, sometimes by example or the American context, but with the sense that this was a reasonable course, a common sense approach. That was supported by his second refrain: "It makes no sense":

"Today, there are hundreds of thousands of students excelling in our schools who are not American citizens. Some are the children of undocumented workers, who had nothing to do with the actions of their parents. They grew up as Americans and pledge allegiance to our flag, and yet live every day with the threat of deportation. Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense."

And later...

"Over the years, a parade of lobbyists has rigged the tax code to benefit particular companies and industries. Those with accountants or lawyers to work the system can end up paying no taxes at all. But all the rest are hit with one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world. It makes no sense, and it has to change."

These relatively small and specific examples are politically contentious, which illustrates how warped our political dialogue is. But the common sense of them transfers to the rest of his agenda, even when it is not so modest. And that involves the third refrain: "We do big things."

The President had talked about investing in innovation, renewing infrastructure, improving education, streamlinging and modernizing the federal government. He said we have stopped the bleeding in our economy and now "We are poised for progress." He reminded everyone that these proposals were not out of the ordinary in American history, especially of the past century, when Republican and Democratic administrations invested heavily in innovation, infrastructure and education. He specifically evoked the 1950s by asserting that "This is our Sputnik moment," the moment when we respond to the challenges of innovation or face falling behind other powers in the world.

But with a final example that married innovation and compassion in a characteristically American way, with the small Pennsylvania company that quickly invented the technology and techniques to free the buried miners in Chile. President Obama ended his State of the Union with this:

"Later, one of his employees said of the rescue, "We proved that Center Rock is a little company, but we do big things."

We do big things.

From the earliest days of our founding, America has been the story of ordinary people who dare to dream. That's how we win the future.

We are a nation that says, "I might not have a lot of money, but I have this great idea for a new company. I might not come from a family of college graduates, but I will be the first to get my degree. I might not know those people in trouble, but I think I can help them, and I need to try. I'm not sure how we'll reach that better place beyond the horizon, but I know we'll get there. I know we will."

We do big things.

The idea of America endures. Our destiny remains our choice. And tonight, more than two centuries later, it is because of our people that our future is hopeful, our journey goes forward, and the state of our union is strong."

UPDATE: I swear to you this is true. I had just finished this entry when I checked my email. I had one new message, from Barack Obama. The title line: We Do Big Things.