The old Obama gave Tuesday night’s speech

Almost eight years ago, as then-Sen. Barack Obama’s campaign for the Democratic nomination and the presidency gathered steam, his great skill as an orator was crucial in winning voters.

Tuesday night, he showed that skill again in his final State of the Union address. As expected, he spoke of what he saw as his administration’s accomplishments over the past 12 months, but he didn’t dwell on that.

Instead, he brought back the inspirational speaker that he was in 2008, a more relaxed and honest speaker than we’ve seen since.

He talked of what’s been done right, but he put emphasis on what’s gone wrong, including “when the average person feels their voice doesn’t matter.”

In one of the most remarkable moments of his speech, he acknowledged that too many Americans feel that way.

“It’s one of the few regrets of my presidency,” he said, “that the rancor and suspicion between the parties has gotten worse instead of better.”

If he had used his oratorical skills more strongly and effectively, he wouldn’t be so regretful now.

Of course, he didn’t get to this problematic point by himself. Republican leaders who vowed to make him a one-term president failed at that, but they’ve had great success in undermining many of his policies and tarnishing his brand.

In the House chamber Tuesday night, Obama also found his voice in calling out the rhetorical excesses of top GOP presidential contenders Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

“Anyone claiming that America’s economy is in decline is peddling fiction,” he said, referring to Trump.

Later, calling such claims “political hot air,” he added, “Well, so is all the rhetoric you hear about our enemies getting stronger and America getting weaker.”

The president should have been as strong on behalf of our national identity every year of the past eight.

On Cruz, he noted that the world looks to America for help in solving crucial problems — “and our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet-bomb civilians. That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage.”

He called on Americans to reject politics “that targets people because of race or religion.”

He said it’s “not a matter of political correctness. This is a matter of understanding just what it is that makes us strong. The world respects us not just for our arsenal; it respects us for our diversity, and our openness, and the way we respect every faith.”

Where has this Barack Obama been?

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 5:51 PM with the headline "The old Obama gave Tuesday night’s speech."