I didn’t watch the State of the Union Address – I usually go out of my way to avoid it. I used to almost look forward to them, but the spectacle became so empty under President Obama that I gave up on them. I don’t mind a little pageantry, but I’m wholly uninterested in ego-feeding campaign speeches masquerading as a report to lawmakers on how the execution of their laws is coming along. I didn’t like it from the last president, and I didn’t expect anything more from the current one.

I do always read them, though, which is a better way to assess the substance of (what should be) both a report on past activity and a set of policy proposals. I’ve never been a Trump supporter or even a voter, but that speech was really good, both rhetorically and substantively. Americans who tuned in seem to have agreed. But the way I know for certain that it was effective?  

The responses of Nevada’s political candidates – especially the Democrats.

~~~

The press releases in response to the speech were really… well, sad. They were also aggressively dishonest. For example, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto spoke for her colleagues when she described the recent tax overhaul as, “a huge tax give away to corporate America and the top 1 percent on the backs of seniors, our kids and hardworking families.”  Except that a) letting people keep more of their own money is not a “giveaway,” and b) seniors, kids and hardworking families also saw tax relief. Whenever you hear someone toss out that “1 percent” bromide, which is an absolute paean to envy and covetousness, and then you hear them complain about “pitting people against one another,” you know you aren’t listening to a serious or credible person.

Senate candidate Jacky Rosen beat the immigration drum, saying, “I was disappointed that the president did not use this opportunity to talk about why it’s so important for Congress to act now to protect DREAMers.”  Except that the President proposed granting citizenship to 1.8 million of them. What else do you want?  He also talked about beefing up border security, which Americans have overwhelmingly supported in conjunction with a  DACA extension for years. We can – and should – do both, and holding up a proposal from President Trump of all people to naturalize the people you claim are among your top priority because you don’t want more border patrol agents is partisan lunacy at its most self-destructive.

Congressional candidate Steven Horsford literally recycled a tired old Tea Party joke about teleprompters, a tacit admission that the speech was good. He then (again, echoing his colleagues – it’s like they all get the same talking points memo or something before they put these press releases out) endorsed multiple policy proposals within the speech, including addressing the opioid addiction epidemic, infrastructure investment and immigration reform. But then he insultingly dismissed any realistic possibility of working with the president, saying he didn’t believe him. This, of course, tells us that sending Mr. Horsford to Washington will accomplish exactly nothing for Nevadans who want to overcome drug dependence or those who want jobs building roads.

The sad thing is that if a Democratic president had given the exact same speech, all three of these folks would have been cheering at every opportunity. Prominent Democrats sounded more Trumplike than Trump on immigration just a few years ago, including President Obama in his 2010 State of the Union address. (I have no objection to people or parties changing their minds on these issues, but at least be honest – and appropriately humble – about it.)  Talking about spending more on infrastructure is right in the wheelhouse of historically Democratic-leaning labor union members. And who doesn’t love vets, or hate North Korea?  

And even if you didn’t like the speech – or the man giving it – what profit is there in sitting like a sullen sourpuss when the President of the United States talks about supporting protesters in Iran?  Or escaping an evil dictatorship?  Or a growing economy?  Or record low unemployment among black Americans?  Or prosecuting gang members for murder?  Donald Trump has always been fortunate in the self-destructive foolishness of his adversaries, and this week has been no different.

~~~

Nevada Republicans taught us a few things, too. Rep. Mark Amodei remains my favorite guy in politics, blowing off attending the State of the Union so he can come home and get some real work done. Sen. Dean Heller looked silly trying too hard (and still failing) to get a photo-op handshake with the President post-speech. Heller’s primary opponent Danny Tarkanian looked even sillier by posting clips of it and attempting to imply in it some sort of implicit presidential endorsement of what will almost certainly be Tarkanian’s sixth failed political campaign.

~~~

My biggest objection to Donald Trump has always been his seeming lack of seriousness or discipline, and the fact that his… unsavory personality creates unnecessary obstacles to actually getting policies I would prefer passed into law. I still don’t believe he has any deeply held philosophy of how and why a government ought to work, he thinks petty insults equal leadership, and I think he confuses political “winning” with achieving lasting policy improvements. But that just as accurately describes his political opponents these days, and if I have to choose between two unserious “sides,” I’ll take the one presiding over a strengthening economy, and the folks who don’t sit and scowl when an American president is talking about how exceptional our nation is.

And whether or not I voted for Mr. Trump, I want his presidency to be a success for the country. Just as fervently, I want my congressional delegation in a position to both work with him on the many areas where Democrats and Republicans just aren’t all that far off, and to likewise be in a position to check executive overreach. Sadly, too many of our candidates in both parties continue to show us they cannot be trusted to keep both of those duties in the right balance.

Orrin Johnson has been writing and commenting on Nevada and national politics since 2007. He started with an independent blog, First Principles, and was a regular columnist for the Reno Gazette-Journal from 2015-2016. By day, he is a deputy district attorney for Carson City. His opinions here are his own. Follow him on Twitter @orrinjohnson, or contact him at [email protected].