DOUG SCHOEN: The SOTU winner, the losers — and the issue Trump nonetheless hasn’t solved

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President Donald Trump gave a virtuoso efficiency Tuesday night time. He achieved quite a few vital objectives in his State of the Union handle, however it's unclear whether or not he basically modified the political dynamic in America. Nonetheless, it was an excellent efficiency — with profound messages.

The primary and most vital message was that the American individuals ought to affiliate the progress, future and success of the nation with the Trump administration and the Republican Party . The president spoke of transformations, turnarounds and, most of all, "the golden age of America." It was shifting and uplifting — although not essentially as persuasive as he could have hoped.

To make certain, Trump made his most compelling case but that the affordability disaster, which Democrats used to win the 2025 off-year elections, was now lastly beneath management.

He additionally made it clear that his Republican Occasion had policies on health care , retirement, costs and, most of all, taxes that he argued would profit the American individuals in methods few have articulated.

On the similar time, in methods I've by no means heard earlier than, Trump used the speech to castigate not solely the Biden administration however Democrats in Congress, who did little to current a unified entrance on the State of the Union.

Between Rep. Al Inexperienced, D-Texas, being ejected from the Home chamber for the second 12 months in a row and members of the Squad jeering Trump and carrying buttons with expletives, the messaging by Democrats at the 2026 State of the Union was even worse than final 12 months. That was very true given the greater than 30 empty seats within the chamber, as some Democrats selected to carry their very own "Folks’s State of the Union" — no matter that is perhaps.

Between Trump’s assaults and the Democrats’ habits, it's laborious to see how the nation emerged extra united after a unprecedented presentation that needed to be shifting to many People. Certainly, one other energy of Trump’s speech was that he explicitly related the nation’s success with working individuals — particularly heroes who've achieved extraordinary accomplishments for our nation, previous and current. The express and implicit message was this: By standing with Trump and his insurance policies, it was the one manner America might obtain the success he spoke of within the context of the turnaround, the transformation, most of all, the "golden age" he stated is underway.

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The president’s use of images was highly effective — from the victorious U.S. Olympic hockey staff to the military heroes acknowledged within the chamber. It was awe-inspiring and shifting, and it left me with a way of pleasure in our nation that I had not felt in years throughout a State of the Union handle.

Nonetheless, on Tuesday night time, I didn't sense that many minds have been modified or that many midterm voters have been swayed by the president’s practically one-hour, 40-minute speech. Whereas I'm not at all sympathetic to as we speak’s Democratic Occasion — particularly its progressive wing — the diploma of assaults and venom expressed at what's historically a nonpartisan occasion was off-putting, even to somebody who has spent 50 years within the rough-and-tumble of politics.

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On the similar time, Trump set the agenda for the midterm elections and made it clear he'll run a populist marketing campaign primarily based on financial empowerment and affordability, contrasting it with a Democratic Occasion that he stated helps open borders, larger taxes and insurance policies hostile to regulation and order.

I'm satisfied many People discovered the speech profoundly shifting and compelling in methods political occasions hardly ever obtain. I'm not satisfied, nevertheless, that polls will present the basic change that Trump and Republicans hoped would comply with the State of the Union.

Time will inform.

It was notably compelling when Trump requested lawmakers within the chamber to face in the event that they believed within the "elementary precept" that "the primary responsibility of the American authorities is to guard Americans, not unlawful aliens." Virtually no Democrats stood.

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The transfer drew a predictable and prolonged standing ovation from Republicans. However I'm not satisfied that, given what polls present is widespread public concern about ICE’s actions, that the second — as extraordinary because it was — will make immigration the profitable subject it was in 2024. Sure, People acknowledge the Trump administration’s achievement in sealing the border. However many are actually judging the president and his get together extra on ICE’s actions in main cities than on Homeland Safety’s work on the border.

President Trump delivered an excellent speech Tuesday night time, however a major problem stays: I don't consider many minds have been modified, nor have been People introduced collectively.

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Douglas E. Schoen has greater than 40 years of expertise as a pollster and political guide. He served as an adviser to President Invoice Clinton and to the presidential marketing campaign of Michael Bloomberg. Schoen is founder and companion of Schoen Cooperman Analysis.