For a decade President Barack Obama leaned on dazzling oratory to advance his politics. Now, in a bid to shape the 2016 election and his legacy, he’s turning off the teleprompter. For sure, there will be more speeches and more soaring rhetoric. But Obama will increasingly use forum-style discussions to get his message across. That starts in Louisiana when he debates his recent State of the Union address with voters.
Engaging unpredictable and often unsupportive members of the public is risky in America's tightly scripted politics. But political gravity has caught up with Obama. The Republican-controled Congress is unlikely to allow many of his offerings to pass its lips. Presidential policy addresses will no longer carry the same executive weight, unless backed by the rare threat of unilateral action. All the while, would-be successors to the presidency are wrenching the spotlight away.
The White House wants to keep Obama relevant by, quite literally, changing the terms of the debate. By ditching the dais, Obama was better able to frame the debate on gun control putting across new lines of argument, in a more engaging way.
The recent televised gun debate -- despite addressing a supercharged subject, in the midst of an ultra-partisan election campaign ” was also notable for its civility. That offers the White House a useful contrast to the bombast of Republican frontrunner Donald Trump, but it might also allow Obama a final shot at his failed campaign promise to ease partisanship.
While not ending the Civil War or presiding over a tidal wave of socially defining legislation, Obama could provide a model for debate, according to Kathryn Olson, a communications professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. "He has to get people talking to each other, that is going to be necessary but not sufficient for any kind of change in this country," she said. "Showing people talking to each other -- including him listening and talking to people -- is import, it's maybe his best chance to make a difference."
