Schieffer on the President Post-Tucson
I was almost sorry to see the President go up in the polls after the speech he made about Tucson - not because I don't wish him well, I do!
I wish the best for all our Presidents.
But what bothers me is that every time something like this happens, Washington's first question is, "Wonder how this will play in the polls?"
The President went up in the polls and that was news, but the right question still should have been, "What impact will the president's words have on the country?" - not "What impact will they have on him?"
The important thing was the president saw the Tucson tragedy threatening to drive us further apart, not bring us together, as such things usually do.
So he told us what we needed to hear - that we needed to dial back on the rhetoric and tone down our hatefulness to one another.
Mainly, he told us we could be better, and we may see the beginning of a change for the better Tuesday night when the president delivers his State of the Union speech.
For the first time in years, many of the elected officials there to hear him will sit with those of the opposite party, rather than divide along party lines.
It is a small thing, to be sure. But in a town where partisanship has become so fierce - many politicians are uncomfortable just being in the same room with members of the other party - it is a start.
How long can it last? We'll see.
But we CAN be better, as the president reminded us. Lately, I wonder if we had somehow forgotten that.
