Trump's State of the Union Was Political Malpractice

Trump gave a speech that should make every Democrat cheer and every Republican on the ballot cry

Last night, Donald Trump delivered an interminable State of the Union that was designed to feed his ego. The Republicans in the room gave him the raucous applause that the painfully insecure president needs like other humans need water.

But because Trump made the speech about himself, he made life much more difficult for Republicans up and down the ballot.

I worked on six of Barack Obama’s State of the Unions, and let me tell you — from a purely political perspective, Trump’s State of the Union was an epic disaster — political malpractice of the highest order. Whether conscious or subconscious, the speech was a repeated thumb in the eye of the voters who put Trump into the White House and could kick the GOP out of the majority in Congress.

The State of the Union matters much less than it used to. Back in my day, the SOTU was a several-week project. The week before was filled with previews and targeted leaks of new policy. The week after, the President would hit the road to tout the various elements.

These days, the speech flushes through the political conversation in less than 24 hours. Part of that is the rapidly changing media environment, and part of it is that Trump and his team don’t have the skill, discipline, or planning capacity to maximize the moment.

But the SOTU still matters. It’s the biggest audience Trump will get all year, and it’s a president’s best chance to make their case to the American people. And Trump blew it.