President Obama gave a self-consciously strong speech last night — so much so that it didn't sound like him at all.
Don't focus on the strategy he laid out for confronting the threat from the group he called ISIL; it's not that surprising or different from what you might expect.
He's going to use his usual counterterrorism tactics. He's going to use air power the way he's been using it thus far. He's going to find allies to help. He's going to try to arm and train moderate Syrian opposition forces (who might actually have won the civil war there if he had done so two years ago). And he's not going to allow those members of the American military in the region to serve in combat roles.
That was all classic Obama. To see what was different, you have to take account of the tone and manner of the address.
Take it from me, a former Reagan speechwriter: In major presidential addresses, the policy is the prose. The way the policy is described is the poetry. The poetry is what matters.
And the poetry last night was muscular, forthright, plain and tough — deliberately and painstakingly so.
Someone once quipped that the Republicans are the "Daddy party" and Democrats are the "Mommy party" — that, in general, the GOP stresses toughness and self-reliance, while Dems stress empathy, caring, feeling.
If so, this was the most Republican speech Barack Obama has ever given.
Right from the start, Obama used the vocabulary of leadership and command and martial power. He began by claiming the mantle of "commander in chief" and declared that "my highest priority is the security of the American people."
He promised — twice — that he would "destroy" ISIL. As proof of his resolution, he cited the fact that "over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our country."
The telling word in that sentence was "fight." Indeed, the noun used more than any other in the speech was "fight." Three more times in this short speech, he referred to "this fight."
On the one hand, he was using "fight" so he didn't have to say we were at "war" with ISIL. On the other hand, "fight" is a tough-guy word.
In keeping with this, he used very aggressive informal language to describe American actions against terrorists — "we took out bin Laden," he said, and "we eliminated" a top al Qaeda-affiliate leader in Somalia.
And he wanted everyone to know it was all being done by him. In deciding to confront ISIL in Iraq, he said, "I ordered our military" to take targeted action.
In fact, he wanted everyone to know that when it comes to terrorism, he's practically a killing machine.
"We will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," he said. "That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven."
Obama sought to project toughness, resolution and force. And it's no wonder. In the NBC News poll released yesterday, Republicans lead Democrats by an astounding 38 points on the question of which party is better at ensuring a strong national defense.
President Obama and his party are in deep, deep trouble when it comes to the Daddy virtues. This speech was an effort to do something to reverse the damage his irresolution and fecklessness have done to his standing and his party's chances in November.
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