HSFC_2017_01_11

A14| Wednesday,January 11, 2017|SFChronicle.com XXXXX•

NATION

In hisfinalspeechto

thenationaspresident,

Barack ObamaTuesday

deliveredaheartfeltand

stingingslap nottoPresi-

dent-electDonaldTrump,

buttothepoliciesand

plansthatcarriedthe

GOPdevelopertohis

surprisevictoryinNo-

vember.

In aspeechfromhis

hometownofChicago,

Obamawarnedthatmany

oftheprogramsTrump

hasproposed—anden-

dorsedby newlyembold-

enedRepublicanleaders

intheHouseandSenate

—poseathreattotheties

thathave boundthis

countrytogetherformore

thantwocenturies.

“Democracydoesnot

requireuniformity,”Oba-

matoldthecrowd ofmore

than18,000cheering

supporters.Butthe

founders“knewthat

democracydoesrequirea

basicsenseofsolidarity—

theideathatforallour

outwarddifferences,we

areallinthistogether;

that we riseorfallasone.”

TheassaultonTrump

wasan obliqueone,pur-

poselysteeringaway from

anythingresemblinga

personalattack, butquietly

slammingthedramatic

changesthebusinessman

says areneeded“tomake

Americagreatagain.”

But“weremainthe

wealthiest,mostpowerful

andmostrespectedna-

tionontheEarth,”Obama

said,butonly“ifourpoli-

ticsreflectthedecencyof

ourpeople.”

Thepresidenthada

narrowlinetowalk.

SinceGeorge Washing-

ton,thenation’s firstpresi-

dent,ga ve hisfarewell

addressin1796,there’s

beenanalmostproforma

aspecttothespeeches,said

BarbaraO’Connor,former

professorofpoliticalcom-

municationsat Sacramento

StateUniversity.

“Youthankthepeople

foralltheirefforts,men-

tionwhatyoumight have

donedifferentlyandthen

claimcreditforwhatwent

right whenyouwerein

office,”shesaid.“Andyou

have tobeanoptimist.”

That doesn’t have to

takelong.In 2001,Bill

Clintontouchedthose

basesinasnappyeight

minutes.Eight yearsago,

George W. Bush wasdone

in13minutes.

ButTrumpracedto

victorywithapromiseto

immediatelyundojust

abouteverythingObama

accomplishedduringhis

yearsaspresident,unrav-

elingthelegacythat’sa

sourceofpridetoboth

Obamaandthevoters

whotwiceelectedhim.

Turningthataroundtook

Obama51minutes.

Themanwhowill

becomepresidentJan.

wasoff -limitstoObama,

thoughthecrowd would

have beendelightedtosee

thepresidenttakethe

sameharsh,no-holds-

barredattitudetoward

Trumpthatthebusi-

nessmandidtoDemocrat

presidentialcandidate

HillaryClinton—and

Obama—inraucous

ralliesthroughoutthefall

campaign.

TheonetimeObama

mentionedTrump,the

presidenthadtosilence

thejeeringcrowd witha

“No, no,no,”arguingthat

thepeacefultransferof

powertoanewpresident

isa“hallmarkofourde-

mocracy.”

Butif Trump gotafree

pass,hispoliciesdidn’t.

CountrieslikeRussia

orChina“can’t matchour

influencearoundthe

world,”Obamasaid,

“unlesswe give up what

we standforandturn

ourselvesintojustanoth-

erbigcountrythatbullies

smallerneighbors,”a

mutedreferenceto

Trump’spromisetobuild

awallonthesouthern

border“andhave Mexico

payforit.”

Thenthere’s Trump’s

callforabanonmuch

Muslimimmigrationor

evenaregistryofMuslims

inthecountry.

Whilethecountry

“mustremainvigilant

againstexternalaggres-

sion,we mustguard

againstaweakeningofthe

valu esthatmakeuswhat

we are,”thepresident

warned.“That’s whyI

rejectdiscrimination

againstMuslimAmer-

icans,whoarejustas

patrioticaswe are.”

Obamaalsotookon

socialmediaandtelevi-

sionfortheirroleinwhat

hecalledthegrowing

tendency“toretreatinto

ourownbubbles...sur-

roundedby peoplewho

looklikeusandsharethe

samepoliticaloutlook

andneverchallengeour

assumptions.”

That’s athreattode-

mocracy,headde d,be-

causeifpeoplearen’t

willingtoacceptnew

information“andconcede

that youropponentis

makingafairpoint,”

politicsdoesn’t work.

ButObamahadtodo

morethanjustdefendhis

legacy.He alsohadtolook

tothefutureandgive

Democrats,wallowingina

self-indulgentseaofde-

spairat theprospectof

fouryearsormoreofPres-

identTrump,areasonto

looktothefuture,said

DavidMcCuan,apolitical

scienceprofessorat Sono-

maStateUniversity.

“Democratssincethe

electionhave beeninone

longtherapysession,

talkingaboutwhat ’s

wrongwiththeDemo-

craticParty,”hesaid.

“Now hehastogive them

hopetomove forward.”

Much ofthenight fea-

turedObamaascheer-

leader, talkingaboutthe

thingsthatwent right

withhimaspresidentand

pointingtowardthepros-

pectofabetterfuture,

evenif it might notcome

inthenextfouryears.

It’s theyoungpeople

whoarethatfuture,he

said,lookingwellbeyond

thenextelectionand

quietlycontrastingthe

typicallymore-liberal

youthwithmanyofthose

not-so-youngvoterswho

castballotinNovember.

“Thisgenerationcom-

ingup —unselfish,altru-

istic,creative,patriotic—

I’ve seenyouin every

cornerofthecountry,”

Obamasaid.“Youbelieve

ina fair,just,inclusive

America;youknowthat

constantchangehasbeen

America’shallmark,

somethingnottofear,but

toembrace.”

Thepresidentalso

mentionedtheobvious:

“You’llsoonoutnumber

anyofus.”

Obamabuilthisspeech

oncontrastswith

Trump’sproposedpol-

icies,whetherclimate

change, gayrights,the

Irannucl earagreementor

Obamacare.Butideas,

morethanparticular

plans,marktherealdif-

ferencethepresidenttried

toshow.

In hisacceptance

speechat theGOPcon-

ventioninJuly,Trump

paintedadark, de spairing

pictureofanAmericain

decl ine, facingchao sin

thestreetsandeconomic

disaster.

“Nobodyknows the

systembetterthanme,”

hesaid,“whichiswhyI

alonecanfixit.”

Obamahadadifferent

take, onehehopesDemo-

cratsandotherswillcarry

withthemafterheleaves

office.

“Iamaskingyouto

believe,”hesaid.“Not

aboutmy abilitytobring

aboutchange—butin

yours.”

Beforehewrappedup

hisspeechwithacallfor

Americansto“holdfast to

that faithwrittenintoour

foundingdocuments,”he

tookafewmomentsto

expresshisgratitudeand

prideinfirstlady Mich elle

Obamaanddaughters

Malia,whowaswithhim

inChicago,andSasha,

whostayedbehindin

Washingtonbecauseshe

hadatestinthemorning.

As thecrowd applauded

them,thepresidentwiped

atearfromhiseye.

JohnWildermuthisaSan

FranciscoChroniclestaff

writer.Email:jwildermuth

@sfchronicle.com

Twitter:@jfwildermuth

Zbigniew Bzdak / ChicagoTribune

PresidentObama is joined onstage by first lady Michelle, daughter Malia and

Vice PresidentJoe Biden after his farewell addressto 18,000 in Chicago.

FAREWELL ADDRESS

Obama a cheerleader

for democratic values

By John Wildermuth