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PRESDIENT Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address has drawn praise and criticism from national leaders.
Locally, the reviews have been split too, but calls for a spirit of cooperation from the president and a desire to work with Republicans in Washington were something some members of both major political parties said was a good step in the right direction for the nation.
In Shadyside, a group of Democrats gathered for a State of the Union get-together where they watched the event.
Among those attending was Ed Good, chairman of the Belmont County Democratic Party.
“I thought it was a good speech,” said Good. “The reference at ‘this is our generation’s Sputnik moment’ is compelling. With China leading the world in investing in renewable energy technology, we are missing a tremendous opportunity to create jobs and demonstrate what we can do here at home – especially locally.”
Good also said that the he was glad to see the president place an emphasis on the economy, education and jobs, but wished the president would have defended some of his other actions by talking more about the benefits of health care reform, the GM ballot and financial reform.
“What we are hearing and what we are seeing is that the more people find out about (health care reform), the more they are accepting it,” Good said. “(Former U.S. Rep.) Charlie Wilson was with us last night and he took a hit for the president on his vote for health care and we were instrumental in getting him to support it. I know it wasn’t the popular thing here, but when people find out their kids are covered until age 26 and there is no discrimination for pre-existing conditions, the more they accept it.”
Kent Moore, chairman of the Belmont County Republican Party, also mentioned energy, but said he would like to have heard the president talk more about the nation’s natural energy resources, as opposed to some of the alternative forms of energy.
“We have a vast amount of resources and a lot of jobs in this valley depend on it, such as coal,” Moore said. “I would have like to see him talk more about that and the job situation here in the United States.”
Belmont County Commissioner Matt Coffland said he thinks the president set the right tone for where the country needs to be headed.
“I was really glad to hear him mention infrastructure, especially road and bridges,” Coffland said. “We need to put more money into infrastructure and we will be going to Washington soon where we will be taking applications for appropriations. There will be some others things we will be working on, but infrastructure is one thing we will be focusing on.”
Coffland, a Democrat, also said he was glad to see the president express a willingness to work with Republicans in Washington.
“The main thing is they need to work together and keep moving this country forward,” Coffland said. “There is only one way to get out of this mess and that is to create jobs and that will be better accomplished if they can work together. He said something along the lines ‘it’s one thing to sit together today, we’ve got to work together tomorrow’ and that’s the key communication and working together. They all represent us the people and they need to work together to make it better for us.”
Cooperation is something Moore said he thinks Republicans are also open to doing with the president.
“I like the idea that his message seems to be coming towards the center, but it remains to be seen whether he’ll govern that way or not,” Moore said. “I think the people on the Republican side are willing and wanting to work with the president to move our country forward, but they are not going to sacrifice their principals just to get along and I wouldn’t expect them to do that.”
Schuler may be reached at Shoe@timesleaderonline.com