Obama Plays Small Ball

First Read: “The details and proposals we’ve heard so far suggest that President Obama is set to go somewhat small in the upcoming State of the Union address, not dissimilar from his 2014 address. This, of course, shouldn’t be surprising given that Obama is entering the fourth quarter of his presidency, and that he now faces a Republican-controlled Congress — hardly the formula for getting big things done in the modern era. Some of his proposals so far: free community college for qualified students, paid sick leave, expanded broadband. In fairness, these things are hardly akin to the school-uniform proposals during the Bill Clinton Era, and some are big aspirational ideas. But they aren’t the big concrete proposals that come across as doable in this political environment.”