Press Democrat - 'North Coast praises Obamas eloquence, splits on policy'

President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech won unanimously high marks for eloquence from North Coast politicians and analysts, but there were some distinct partisan and philosophical divides.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey, a Petaluma Democrat with strong liberal views, applauded her party leader's "commitment to Main Street America" and his calls for clean energy, jobs and health care legislation.

"He made a commitment to go forward," Woolsey said. "He gave us our marching orders" on health care.

She believes the Senate and House bills can be reconciled and sent to the President.

But Obama's call for a "new generation" of "safe, clean nuclear power plants" left her cold.

"I didn't stand up for that one," Woolsey said. "You'd have to prove to me they were safe before I'd vote for them."

Rep. Mike Thompson, a Democrat from St. Helena, seconded the president's focus on creating jobs. "With unemployment as high as 18.5 percent in some parts of our district, we cannot waver in our commitment to putting people back to work," Thompson said.

He also backed the move to enact a health care bill. "We cannot let months of partisan sniping and disinformation campaigns about health care reform stop our progress," he said.

Thompson, who is aligned with the Blue Dog, fiscally conservative Democrats in the House, remains wary of swelling the federal deficit. Nonetheles, Thompson said he wants Obama to avoid "across the board spending cuts that might do more harm than good to our fragile local and national economies."

Elissa Wadleigh, a Republican who chaired John McCain's campaign in Sonoma County, said the 70-minute address repeatedly illustrated "one of the most fundamental differences" between the parties.

"Over and over in his speech, Obama pointed to government as the answer," she said. "Everything is pass a bill, pass a bill."

Government controls, including financial regulation and taxes, "drive business out of the country and the state, as well," said Wadleigh, a former county GOP committee member.

Wadleigh said the president's speeches are smooth, "but his problem is credibility. In the past year, Americans have not seen the change they hoped for in government."

She said the words of an Elvis Presley song come to mind: "A little less conversation; a little more action please."

Brian Sobel, a Petaluma political consultant and a Republican, predicted that Obama will "get a little bump" in public approval ratings â€" as presidents typically do after State of the Union speeches.

But Sobel said he was intrigued that health care, after the nation's "lengthy and acrimonious debate," wasn't mentioned for the first 30 minutes of the speech.

While a "watered-down" health care bill may still get through Congress, Sobel said it would have benefitted from a more prominent push in the speech.

He said he was surprised by Obama's endorsement of nuclear power and expanding offshore oil drilling, issues Republicans favor but Democrats have been "strongly against for many years."

But the president "didn't move to the middle all that much," Sobel said. "He said at the end: ‘I won't quit.'"

Leland Fishman, a Petaluma business owner and a Democrat, had a seat in the House gallery and said he had a good view of Obama.

"It was very electric atmosphere," Fishman said.

But Obama's call for bipartisanship didn't seem to resonate with Republican lawmakers, who often sat quietly while the Democrats were applauding vigorously.

"It's real evident that the two parties still have a lot of distance between them," Fishman said.

Mike Visser, a Sonoma State University assistant professor of economics, questioned whether the proposal to use $30 billion in bank rescue paybacks to provide loans to small business would stimulate employment.

It's a good step, Visser said, but the proposal to grant tax credits to small businesses that hire more workers is more direct.

Tax credits are "a straight incentive program," Visser said. Employers only get the benefit "if they make a decision" to boost hiring.

The best way to bring down the federal deficit is to stimulate economic growth, for which there is "no quick fix," Visser said.

He also questioned whether the president's proposed spending freeze in 2011 would be good medicine for an ailing economy. "When the private sector's not spending, somebody's got to do it," he said.

Visser said he was impressed that Obama embraced both clean energy and nuclear power. "That's the kind of thinking we need," he said. "I think he's saying we have to consider everything."