OUR SAD STATE – AT 10:41 A.M. ET:  The president delivers his State of the Union message Tuesday night.  Aren't you excited?   There is already, on the internet, a kind of informal pool wager on how many viewers Obama will attract.  His audiences have been steadily declining.  Soon he'll be introducing his speech by saying, "This is CNN."

The American people have already rendered their judgment on the state of the union.  From Powerline:

Harris surveyed 2,047 adults between January 17 and 21, 2014, on the current state of theAmerican union. The results, I think, are stunning. It would be interesting to compare the numbers to prior, similar surveys; I can’t imagine that there have been many times in our history when Americans have been so glum. Here are the key results.

Before you talk about poll responses, you have to be sure you know what the question was. Harris’s first question was: “At the end of the month, President Barack Obama will give his State of the Union to the American people. How would you rate the current state of the country?” The results:

Excellent: 3%
Good: 17%
Fair: 44%
Poor: 36%

These results are dismal: 20% positive, and 80% negative. That is grim; Americans think the country in terrible shape. So, does that mean that people will be tuning in to Obama’s State of the Union speech in search of hope and guidance? No. Harris finds that only 28% of respondents intend to watch the broadcast. 32% won’t touch it with a stick, and the remaining 40% are “maybes,” but I’m pretty sure nearly all of them will decide to tune out. Hardly anyone believes that after five years of failure, Barack Obama still has something important to offer.

COMMENT:  I would have to agree.  There is a terrible pessimism in the country.  I saw it in the late 70s under Carter.  The presidency is, in part, a spiritual office, a source of inspiration and national purpose.  Those who remember that, like Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan, have a chance at greatness.  Those who forget, or don't care, like Carter and Obama, have no chance at all.

January 26, 2014