Senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer outlined the lessons learned in a three-page memo that Obama discussed with his Cabinet in recent weeks, according to several administration officials who have read the document.
Among its conclusions is that Obama, a former state legislator and U.S. senator, too often governed more like a prime minister than a president. In a parliamentary system, a prime minister is elected by lawmakers and thus beholden to them in ways a president is not....
“A State of the Union creates a contract with the public about what you say and what you will do,” said John D. Podesta ...
“The president is always reminding us that this isn’t the worst that partisanship has been, and you always have to be pushing because you never know when something will break,” said the first senior administration official. “Progress is three yards and a cloud of dust — that’s how it is for us in this environment.” ...
The buzzwords this year are “the pen and the phone” — the West Wing terms for executive action and presidential effort to promote ideas on the economy, education and social mobility at the state and local levels.
