The president can read the election results; that much is clear from his State of the Union Address last night.
Hey, it’s a start.
Alas, it’s not so clear that President Obama and his fellow Democrats understand just why folks are upset.
Yes, last week’s GOP electoral triumph in liberal Massachusetts sounded alarms that Obama & Co. couldn’t ignore.
But while the president spoke for some 70 long minutes last night, he didn’t actually propose to do anything much to address voters’ concerns.
Which makes you wonder: If he can’t pare down a 7,000-plus-word speech that says next to nothing, how will he trim his trillion-dollar deficits or deliver on any of his other promises?
“Jobs must be our No. 1 focus in 2010,” Obama said last night.
Well, yes: Polls show voters care more about the economy than, say, health-care reforms. And, yes, Obama did call for some tax incentives for small businesses. Which is fine — but a recovery plan this does not make.
At the same time, he’s sticking by his health-care-reform package — the one voters resoundingly reject.
“I want everyone to take another look at the plan,” he insisted. “Do not walk away from reform . . . Finish the job.”
Likewise, he urged renewed commitment to his similarly unpopular, job-killing cap-and-tax plan. Hello? What did he think Massachusetts voters were saying?
Fact is, last night’s address was less a substantive than a political speech — riddled with bluster and prevarication. Obama claimed to have cut taxes and saved “millions” of jobs, “isolated” Iran and opened government.
Where was he — Opposite Land?
And, of course, he made sure not to miss his chance to blame George Bush for . . . everything. Over and over again.
Nor does he yet even remotely fathom the extent of public anger over his decidedly unserious approach to terror — as evidenced, for starters, by his insistence on trying terrorists in civilian courts, in places like New York.
So, yes, it’s good that Obama senses public frustration. Question now is: Why won’t he do anything to address it?