Photo by Larry W. Smith/EPA
On Tuesday at 9pm ET, Barack Obama will deliver his seventh and final State of the Union address as president of the United States. SOTU speeches are usually pretty standard affairs in which presidents reassure the public on — you guessed it — the current state of the union, including all of the things they've done in the last year and what's still to come from Washington, DC.But the White House has already made it clear that this year's speech is going to be "nontraditional." Here are some elements to keep in mind while watching Obama's final address to the 114th United States Congress for what exactly that might mean.Obama's Record in the Rearview
Since this is Obama's last State of the Union, any appeal he makes to congressional lawmakers for them to support potential legislation is likely to be a waste of time. If the White House's momentous movie trailerreleased ahead of the speech is any indicator of its content, Obama will use his time to reflect on the last seven years by focusing on a number of areas — particularly his record on job creation and economic recovery after two wars and a global recession. The latter has particular significance considering the latest year-end employment report indicated that the US added 292,000 jobs, capping off two years of solid growth and pushing unemployment down to 5 percent. Healthcare reform and the administration's focus on the environment during Obama's two terms, including the US's signing of an historic climate change deal in Paris, will also likely receive a head nod tomorrow, per the SOTU preview.Buzz in the Background
There will be one very notable and very orange void in this year's SOTU — the absence of former House Speaker John Boehner, who together with Vice President Joe Biden delivered some of the best entertainment on C-SPAN over the last decade by offering varying facial expressions and reactions from behind Obama during the speech. Boehner was the frown to Biden's grin, the grimace to his counterpart's constant adoring beam. Watching them was always an emotional rollercoaster. We will surely miss the sometimes teary spectacle of Boehner and Biden in the background together, but will be watching to see if Paul Ryan, the new speaker, lives up to his predecessor's involuntary face pulling.Who's who and who's asleep
The honored guests of the POTUS and FLOTUS at the annual address is always an indicator of the issues du jour. Last year, the invitation of Alan Gross, the Maryland man freed from a Cuban prison after five years of imprisonment, was a wink at the historic revival of Cuban-American relations, while the attendance of a college student Chelsey Davis represented Obama's commitment to education as he announced plans to make the first two years of community college free for students.This year, Obama's guests include a Syrian refugee, in acknowledgement of the calamitous situation in that country that has caused millions to flee their homeland, and a formerly undocumented Mexican immigrant who went on to serve in the US military — a potential dig at members of the Republican opposition who have expressed hostility to immigration and who have even, in the case of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, suggested building a wall along the Mexican border to keep immigrants out. Also in the audience will be Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide in June last year. Eyes will be on Ruth Ginsberg, one of five justices who voted in favor of the Obergefell decision, to see if she dozes off again this year.Related: Indiana's 'Religious Freedom' Law Takes Effect as LGBT Activists Call for Protection from DiscriminationGun Control
Obama will almost certainly devote a portion of the speech to gun control. His speech is coming just a week after he announced an executive order on gun control to expand background checks in an effort to curtail what he called an "epidemic of gun violence" in the US. Obama's past week was spent pitching the plan to the American people, making it clear that it was his final, if largely symbolic, effort as president to get something done about guns, despite the intractability of a Republican-controlled Congress. The guest list and seating arrangements at the speech also strongly hint that the issue of guns will be highlighted. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a prominent supporter of gun control, has been invited to sit by First Lady Michelle Obama, along with the husband of a victim who died in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, last month. There will also be one seat next to First Lady Michelle Obama left open to symbolize victims of gun violence in America.Will Nikki Haley Hydrate Appropriately?
The Republican top brass has chosen South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to deliver the party's official response to the State of the Union — a high-stakes job but one that has the potential for even higher payoffs if she doesn't faceplant like Bobby Jindal did in 2009. Being chosen to give the SOTU response usually indicates that the party establishment views a politician as having a bright future on the national stage. In Haley's case, it adds to the speculation of a potential nomination as vice president on the GOP presidential ticket. Many Americans were first introduced to a young, sweaty junior senator named Marco Rubio when he gave his infamous water-sipping 2013 State of the Union response. With his Poland Spring-guzzling days behind him, Rubio is now a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.As a woman, an Indian-American, and the youngest governor in the country, it comes as no surprise that Haley is seen as a rising star in a party that struggles to appeal to the demographics she represents. Assuming she can deliver the Republican party line with charisma (and proper pre-hydration), her performance could prove to be her first big stride toward a vice presidential run.Related: Nikki Haley Is Checking All the Boxes to Be the GOP's Vice Presidential NomineeMillennials Are Going to Watch It and They're Going to Like it
…or so the White House is desperately hoping. Jason Goldman, spokesperson for the White House Office of Digital Strategy, described in Medium how the Obama administration is making a massive push across a variety of digital media platforms in order to get the president's message out to a younger and more diverse audience. In other words, the White House is "meeting people where they are," according to Goldman. For the first time, the speech will be streamed both live and on demand on Amazon Video, in addition to the White House's YouTube channel. The White House team is also providing live updates of the speech in the form of videos, pictures, and — yes — even GIFs on its official Vine, Instagram, and Tumblr pages. They are also reaching out to viewers on Snapchat, reported the Associated Press, in an attempt to capture the attention of a demographic that has not exactly provided the biggest supply of SOTU viewers over the years.If you're trying to avoid Tuesday's speech, steer clear of all social media.Follow Olivia Becker and Liz Fields on Twitter: @obecker928 and @lianzifields
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Since this is Obama's last State of the Union, any appeal he makes to congressional lawmakers for them to support potential legislation is likely to be a waste of time. If the White House's momentous movie trailerreleased ahead of the speech is any indicator of its content, Obama will use his time to reflect on the last seven years by focusing on a number of areas — particularly his record on job creation and economic recovery after two wars and a global recession. The latter has particular significance considering the latest year-end employment report indicated that the US added 292,000 jobs, capping off two years of solid growth and pushing unemployment down to 5 percent. Healthcare reform and the administration's focus on the environment during Obama's two terms, including the US's signing of an historic climate change deal in Paris, will also likely receive a head nod tomorrow, per the SOTU preview.Buzz in the Background
There will be one very notable and very orange void in this year's SOTU — the absence of former House Speaker John Boehner, who together with Vice President Joe Biden delivered some of the best entertainment on C-SPAN over the last decade by offering varying facial expressions and reactions from behind Obama during the speech. Boehner was the frown to Biden's grin, the grimace to his counterpart's constant adoring beam. Watching them was always an emotional rollercoaster. We will surely miss the sometimes teary spectacle of Boehner and Biden in the background together, but will be watching to see if Paul Ryan, the new speaker, lives up to his predecessor's involuntary face pulling.
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The honored guests of the POTUS and FLOTUS at the annual address is always an indicator of the issues du jour. Last year, the invitation of Alan Gross, the Maryland man freed from a Cuban prison after five years of imprisonment, was a wink at the historic revival of Cuban-American relations, while the attendance of a college student Chelsey Davis represented Obama's commitment to education as he announced plans to make the first two years of community college free for students.This year, Obama's guests include a Syrian refugee, in acknowledgement of the calamitous situation in that country that has caused millions to flee their homeland, and a formerly undocumented Mexican immigrant who went on to serve in the US military — a potential dig at members of the Republican opposition who have expressed hostility to immigration and who have even, in the case of GOP presidential frontrunner Donald Trump, suggested building a wall along the Mexican border to keep immigrants out. Also in the audience will be Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the Supreme Court case that legalized gay marriage nationwide in June last year. Eyes will be on Ruth Ginsberg, one of five justices who voted in favor of the Obergefell decision, to see if she dozes off again this year.Related: Indiana's 'Religious Freedom' Law Takes Effect as LGBT Activists Call for Protection from Discrimination
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Obama will almost certainly devote a portion of the speech to gun control. His speech is coming just a week after he announced an executive order on gun control to expand background checks in an effort to curtail what he called an "epidemic of gun violence" in the US. Obama's past week was spent pitching the plan to the American people, making it clear that it was his final, if largely symbolic, effort as president to get something done about guns, despite the intractability of a Republican-controlled Congress. The guest list and seating arrangements at the speech also strongly hint that the issue of guns will be highlighted. Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy, a prominent supporter of gun control, has been invited to sit by First Lady Michelle Obama, along with the husband of a victim who died in the mass shooting in San Bernardino, California, last month. There will also be one seat next to First Lady Michelle Obama left open to symbolize victims of gun violence in America.Will Nikki Haley Hydrate Appropriately?
The Republican top brass has chosen South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to deliver the party's official response to the State of the Union — a high-stakes job but one that has the potential for even higher payoffs if she doesn't faceplant like Bobby Jindal did in 2009. Being chosen to give the SOTU response usually indicates that the party establishment views a politician as having a bright future on the national stage. In Haley's case, it adds to the speculation of a potential nomination as vice president on the GOP presidential ticket. Many Americans were first introduced to a young, sweaty junior senator named Marco Rubio when he gave his infamous water-sipping 2013 State of the Union response. With his Poland Spring-guzzling days behind him, Rubio is now a frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
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…or so the White House is desperately hoping. Jason Goldman, spokesperson for the White House Office of Digital Strategy, described in Medium how the Obama administration is making a massive push across a variety of digital media platforms in order to get the president's message out to a younger and more diverse audience. In other words, the White House is "meeting people where they are," according to Goldman. For the first time, the speech will be streamed both live and on demand on Amazon Video, in addition to the White House's YouTube channel. The White House team is also providing live updates of the speech in the form of videos, pictures, and — yes — even GIFs on its official Vine, Instagram, and Tumblr pages. They are also reaching out to viewers on Snapchat, reported the Associated Press, in an attempt to capture the attention of a demographic that has not exactly provided the biggest supply of SOTU viewers over the years.If you're trying to avoid Tuesday's speech, steer clear of all social media.Follow Olivia Becker and Liz Fields on Twitter: @obecker928 and @lianzifields