McCain and Obama React to the State of the Union Address
Feb. 1, 2006 — -- Last night, President Bush delivered his fifth State of the Union address with a much more reserved and humble tone than his previous ones. He called for a victory in Iraq, an end to the United States' addiction to oil and issued a warning to Iran.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who ran against Bush for the Republican nomination in 2000, said he thought the president did a good job last night. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., however, said he heard more of the same.
"I think the president had an opportunity to set out a bold agenda," Obama said. "But what you didn't see were serious initiatives. Let's take the example of oil, reducing the dependence on oil by 75 percent -- but no concrete initiatives."
Both McCain and Obama said that the president's goal of reducing oil dependency by 75 percent over the next 20 years is attainable. McCain said Americans should learn more about nuclear power, which he said is safe, and Obama said that Americans should invest in new technology to use alternative fuels like ethanol.
Down in the polls and coming off the worst year of his presidency, Bush walked into the House chamber calling for a change in Washington's bitter tone.
"We need to put aside partisan politics, work together and get this problem solved," he said.
McCain said that the president was sincere in his call for a political truce. "The president wants to work in a bipartisan fashion," he said. "I was glad to see him do it"
But there remain some serious differences between the two parties. The president reiterated his position in Iraq. He made no promises about when the troops would come home, saying that it was up to the military commanders, not the politicians, to decide when the Iraqi military is ready to take over.
But Obama said that it is "clear at this point is that there is no military solution to the problem, the Sunnis and the Shiites have to decide they want to live together."
McCain, on the other hand, backed the president and said that the troops would come home only when the "conditions on the ground call for it."
When the president chastised Congress for not passing his proposal to privatize Social Security, the Democrats reacted sarcastically, and stood up and applauded loudly. Some audibly groaned when Bush defended his wiretapping program.
"Congress passed a piece of legislation that outlined what the president can and cannot do," Obama said. "He circumvented this. ... So far they, have been wielding this as a political football."
Both McCain and Obama said the president will be largely judged by historians by how he handles national security. McCain emphasized the need to deal with Iran, which, by many accounts, is constructing nuclear weapons.
"Iran is a nuclear-equipped country that in their words is bent on the destruction of the state of Israel." McCain said. "It is very tough."
But when the president called for earmarking reform -- McCain was the sole congressman who stood up and applauded. Earmarking has recently drawn a great deal of criticism, especially in light of the recent lobbying scandals that have rocked Capitol Hill.
Both McCain and Obama said they were happy to see the president address lobbying reform and ethical issues in Washington, with McCain calling the earmarking practice obscene.
The government needs to "clean up the pork barrel practice which has spiraled out of control," he said.
